II 



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WISDOM SERIES. 

— ^ — ♦ — 

Selections from the Thoughts of Marcus 
Aurelius Ajitonimis. 

Selections from the ^''Imitation of Christ ^''^ 
by Tho7itas h Kempis. 

Sunshine in the Soul. Poems selected 
by the editor of '' Quiet Hours.'''' 

Selections from Epictetus. 

The Life and Sermons of the Reverend 
Doctor yohn Tauler. 

The Wisdom of Solomon and other Selec- 
tions from the Apocrypha. 

The Wisdom of fesus.^ the Son of Sirach ; 
or, Ecclesiasticus. 

Other voluvies in preparation ; the series 
edited by the editor of " Quiet Hotirs^ 
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BOSTON: 

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Copyright^ 1S78, 
By Roberts Brothers. 



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THE books of the Apocrypha are most 
interesting relics of antiquity, containing 
many wise maxims, devout sentiments, and 
graphic pictures of manners. They cover a 
period in the life of the Jewish nation, of two 
or three centuries immediately preceding the 
Christian era, of which we have hardly any 
other record. The Lutheran and English 
churches consider them profitable and instruc- 
tive, and authorize'^ reading them in the church 
services. As the sixth of the Thirty-Nine Arti- 
cles says : " The Church doth read [them] for 
example of life and instruction of manners ; but 
yet doth it not apply them to establish any 
doctrine." 

Of late years the British and American Bible 
Societies have excluded the Apocrypha from 
the Bibles published by them ; and, conse- 
quently, it is not readily accessible to a large 
class of readers. I have thought it well, there- 
fore, to include, in the Wisdom Series, these 



iv Preface. 

specimens of the wisdom of the Jews. In this 
volume I have given the Wisdom of Solo- 
mon complete, and portions of other books. 
Ecclesiasticus is so long that it will form a 
volume by itself. Dean Stanley, in the third 
volume of his exceedingly valuable and inter- 
esting " History of the Jewish Church," gives 
an account of Ecclesiasticus and the Wisdom 
of Solomon, which will be found in the follow- 
ing pages. I add some of the conjectural dates 
of the books, gathered from Smith's Bible 
Dictionarv, and other sources. 

The date of the First Book of Esdras is un- 
known. Being in Greek, it must be after the 
time of Alexander ; being used by Josephus as 
of equal authority with the canonical books, it 
must be before the Christian era. 

The Second Book of Esdras probably ap- 
peared between 25 B.C., and (d^ reign of Domi- 
tian 81-96 A.D. It is of Jewish authorship, 
except the first, second, fifteenth, and sixteenth 
chapters, which are supposed to be interpola- 
tions by some unknown Christian hand. 

It is supposed that the Wisdom of Solomon 
was written by an Alexandrian Jew, at some 
time between 120 B.C. and 50 B.C., the latter 
date being the more probable. 

Ewald says that the Book of Tobit was 
probably composed in the far East, towards the 
close of the Persian period, about 350 B.C. 



Preface, v 

The Book of Baruch may have been written 
at the same period as Tobit, but probably it 
was not known in its present form before i6o 
B.C. The Jews held it in little esteem ; and it 
was not used in the Christian church before the 
time of Irenaeus, who died a.d. 202. 

The Song of the Three Children is of uncer- 
tain date. It has been used as a hymn in the 
Christian church since the fourth century. 

The Prayer of Manasses was probably com- 
posed not lono^ before the Christian era. 

The First Book of ]\Iaccabees was written in 
Hebrew, B.C. 120-100. but is known to us only 
in the Greek translation. 

The Second Book of Maccabees is a Greek 
abridgment, made at some time between 100 
and 50 B.C., of a lost work of Jason of Cyrene, 

B.C. 160. M. W. T. 



3CabIe of (KonttntQ. 



PAGE 

Preface iii-v 

Introduction from Dean Stanley's Jewish 

Church . i 

The Wisdom of Solomon 19 

^elcrtions from 

I. Esdras 82 

II. Esdras 95 

ToBiT 108 

Baruch 114 

Song of the Three Holy Children . . .- . 118 

The Prayer of Manasses 124 

I. Maccabees 127 

I II. Maccabees 135 



4 



INTRODUCTION. 



-♦o«- 



[From Dean Stanlej^'s Jewish Church, Lecture XLVII.] 

THERE are two [books] which tower 
above the rest [of the Apocrypha], 
and which, even bv those who most dis- 
parage the others, are held in reverential 
esteem. The one is the recommendation of 
the theology of Palestine to Alexandria, — 
" The Wisdom of the Son of Sirach ; " the 
other is the recommendation of the theoloo-y 
of Alexandria to Palestine, — " The Wisdom 
o£ Solomon." 

They are both in the same class of 
literatiu'e. Thev both attach themselves in 
the Hebrew Scriptures, not to the Propheti- 
cal or Historical or Poetical portions, but to 
those writings on which the influence of the 
external world had already made itself felt, 
— the books which bear the name of Sol- 



2 IntrcitJuction* 

omon. They both furnish the links which 
connect the earlier Hebrew literature with 
that final outburst of religious teaching which 
is recorded in the Gospels and Epistles. 
The Parables and Discourses beside the 
Galilean Lake, the Epistles of James, of 
John, and of the unknown author of the 
Epistle to the Hebrews, have hardly any 
affinity with the style of Daniel or Malachi, 
of Tobit or of the Rabbinical schools ; but 
they are the direct continuation, although in 
a more exalted form, of those two Apocry- 
phal Books of Wisdom. 

The Wisdom of Joshua (or, as the Greeks 
called him, Jesus), the son of Sirach, was 
the first of those writings which, from the 
sanction given to them by the Church, were 
called •" Ecclesiastical " as distinct from 
'' Canonical," and thus took to itself the 
name " Ecclesiasticus," which properly be- 
longed to them all. It was for the Jews of 
Alexandria first, and then for the Christians, 
** The Church Book^'^ " the favorite book 
of ecclesiastical edification," "the Whole 
Duty of Man," " the Imitation," — the 
" summary of all virtues," as it was called 
in its original title. 



Cntrotiurtion* 3 

It must have early acquired this reputa- 
tion. The grandson of its author arrived in 
Alexandria in the close of the troubled 
rei2:n of Ptolemv Phvscon,^ — the second of 
those kings who were renowned among the 
Gentiles for bearing, seriously or ironically, 
the name of " benefactor " (Euergetes). 
When, amon2:st his countrvmen in the for- 
eign land, he discovered " no slight differ- 
ence of education," and at the same time a 
keen desire to become instructed in the 
customs of their fathers, he found no task 
more worthy of his labor, knowledge, and 
sleepless study than to translate into Greek 
this collection of all that was most practical 
in the precepts, and most inspiring in the 
history of his people. 

It is perhaps the only one of the Deutero- 
canonical [or Apocryphal] books composed 
originally, not in Greek, but in Hebrew; 
and the translator well knew the difficulty 
of rendering the peculiarities of his native 
tongue into the fluent language of Alexan- 
dria. It is the first reflection which we 
possess on the Old Testament Scriptures 

1 Probably B. C. 132, the original book ha\'ing been 
written about B. C. 180. 



4 Jntrotiuction* 

after the commencement of the formation of 
the Canon. " The Law and the Prophets " 
were already closed. ' " The other books " 
were, as the phrase implies, still considered 
as an appendix, capable of additions, yet 
already beginning to be parted by an intelli- 
gible though invisible line from those of 
later date. The Son of Sirach had given 
himself much to their perusal ; he was, as 
we may say, the first Biblical student : but 
he felt that he had still something new to 
add, something old to collect. He was, 
like a great teacher of later times, as one 
born out of due time. He had awakened 
up " last of all, as one that gathereth after 
the grape-gatherers : by the blessing of the 
Lord he profited," and "filled his wine-press 
like a gleaner of grapes."^ It was a noble 
ambition, alike of the grandfather and the 
grandson, to carry into the most minute 
duties of daily life the principles of their 
ancient law, — ^* laboring not for himself 
only, but for all who seek learning.'' 

It is, if not the largest book in the whole 
Bible (for the Psalms, and, possibly, the 
book of Isaiah's Prophecies, exceed it), yet 

^ Ecclus. xxxiii. i6. 



Entrobuction* S 

certainly the largest of one single author. 
It contains the first allusions to the earlier 
records of the Jewish race. The Psalms, 
and occasionally the Prophets, had touched 
on the history of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, 
Samuel. But neither in Psalms or Prophets, 
neither in Proverbs or History, is there the 
slightest reference to the mystic opening of 
the Book of Genesis, which in Christian 
times has been the battle-field of so manv a 
strife, theological, scientific, and critical. 
It is the Son of Sirach, in his passing allu- 
sions to the creation of Adam and to the 
old giants, w^ho is the first precursor of the 
Pelagian controversy, of the " Paradise 
Lost," of the Elohistic and Jehovistic the- 
ories. 

Jerusalem is still the centre, and Palestine 
the horizon, of his thoughts. The Priest- 
hood, with their offerings, their dues, and 
their stately appearance, are to him the 
most prominent figures of the Jewish com- 
munity. Nor is the modern institution of 
the Scribes forgotten. He draws his images 
of grandeur from the cedars of Lebanon 
and the fir-trees that clothe the sides of 
Hermon, from the terebinth with its spread- 



6 Entrotiuction* 

ing branches ; his images of beauty from 
the pahn-trees in the tropical heat of 
Engedi, or from the roses and lilies and 
fragrant shade by the well-watered gardens 
of Jericho. The drops of bitterness which 
well up amidst his exuberant flow of patri- 
otic thanksgiving are all discharged within 
that narrow range of vision which fixed his 
whole theological and national animosity on 
the three hostile tribes that penned in the* 
little Jewish colony, — the Edomites on the 
south, the Philistines on the west, and 
Samaritans on the north. And in accord- 
ance with this local and almost provincial 
limitation is the absence of those wider 
Oriental or Western aspects which abound 
in other Canonical or Deuterocanonical 
books of this period. It is, after Malachi, 
the one specimen of a purely Palestinian 
treatise during this period. 

But the grandson, through whose careful 
translation alone it has been preserved, was 
not wrong in thinking that it had a suffi- 
ciently universal character to make it suit- 
able for the vast complex world in which he 
found himself in the capital of Alexander's 
dominions. Even though hardly any direct 



Introtiuction. 7 

Alexandrian influence can be detected in 
its stvle, vet it is evident that the breath of 
the Grecian spirit has touched it at the 
core, and raised it out of its Semitic atmos- 
phere. The author, although his birth- 
place and his home were Jerusalem, was yet 
a traveller in foreign lands : he knew the 
value, even if he had not the actual expe- 
rience, of " serving among great men and 
before princes ; " he had ^' tried the good 
and the evil among men." ^ 

In some respects the Book of the Son of 
Sh-ach is but a repetition of the ancient 
writings of Solomon. In some of its max- 
ims it sinks below the dignity of those 
writings by the homeliness of its details for 
guidance of behavior at meals, of commer- 
cial speculations, of social advancement. 
But its general tone is worthy of that first 
contact between the two great civilizations 
of the ancient world, and breathes a spirit 
which an Isaiah would not have condemned, 
nor a Sophocles or a Theophrastus have 
despised. There is not a w^ord in it to 
countenance the minute casuistries of the 
later Rabbis, or the metaphysical subtleties 

1 Ecclus. xxxix. 4; li. 13. 



8 5ntr0tiucti0n« 

of the later Alexandrians. It pours out its 
whole strength in discussing the conduct of 
human life, or the direction of the soul to 
noble aims. Here first in the sacred books 
we find the full delineation of the idea of 
education, — the slow, gradual process, "at 
first by crooked ways, then will she return 
the straight way, and comfort him, and show 
him her secrets." " At the last thou shalt 
find her rest, and that shall be turned to 
thy joy. Then shall her fetters be a strong 
defence for thee, and her chains a robe of 
glory." ^ Here is a pointed warning against 
spoiled children : " Cocker thy child, and 
he shall make thee afraid ; play with him, 
and he will bring thee to heaviness." ^ 
Here is the measure of true nobleness : " It 
is not meet to despise a poor man that hath 
understanding, neither is it convenient to 
magnify a sinful man. Great men and 
judges and potentates shall be honored, yet 
is there none of them greater than he that 
feareth the Lord. To the slave that is wise 
shall they that are free do service, and he 
that hath knowledge will not grudge when 
he is reformed." ^ Here is the backbone of 

^ Ecclus. iv. 17 ; vi. 28. ^ lb. xxx. 9. ^ lb. x. 23-25. 



Eutroljuction, 



the honest love of truth : " In nowise speak 
against the truth, but be abashed of the error 
of thv ignorance." Be not ashamed to con- 
fess thv faults, nor '' swim ao^ainst the stream 
of conviction." "Strive for the truth unto 
death, and the Lord shall fight for thee." 
There is a tender compassion which reaches 
far into the future religion of mankind : 
" Let it not grieve thee to bow down thine 
ear to the poor and give him a friendly an- 
swer with gentleness. Be as a father to the 
fatherless, and instead of a husband to 
the widow ; so shalt thou be as the son of 
the Most High, and he shall love thee more 
than thv mother doth." ^ If there is at times 
the mournful and hopeless view of life and of 
death which pervades the earlier •' Preacher," 
yet on the whole the tone is one of vigorous, 
ma2:nanimous action. 

He must have been a delightful teacher 
who could so write of filial affection and of 
friendship in all its forms, and so rise above 
the harshness of his relations with his slaves. 
He must have seen deep into the problems 
of social life, who contrasts as keenlv as 
Bacon or Goethe the judgments of the uned- 

^ Ecclus. xiv. 8-IO. 



lo Entrotjuction* 

iicated many and the highly educated few. 
Yet in the midst of these homely and varied 
experiences, which belong only to the imi- 
tator of the wise King, a voice as of the 
Prophet and the Psalmist is still heard. 
Again and again the strain is raised, such 
as Amos and Isaiah had lifted up, not the 
less impressive for the quiet soberness with 
which it is urged. It is the same doctrine 
of the substitution of the moral duties for 
the ceremonial. The true '^atonement" for 
sins is declared to be, not the dumb sacri- 
fices in the Temple courts, but the " honor 
to parents," the giving of " alms." The 
trust in " oblations," the recklessness of 
reliance on the mere mercy of God, are 
solemnly discountenanced. ''He that re- 
quiteth a good turn offereth fine flour ; 
and he that giveth alms sacrificeth praise. 
To depart from unrighteousness is propitia- 
tion." And underneath all this, there still 
burns the quiet flame of hope and resigna- 
tion. " Look at the generations of old and 
see, did ever any trust in the Lord and were 
confounded ? As his majesty is, so is his 
mercy." ^ Both by example and by defini- 

* Ecclus. ii. 4-18. 



Entrotiuction* 



II 



tion there is no more exalted description of 
the true greatness of prayer.-^ 

But there is vet another characteristic of 
the Son of Sirach, more peculiarly his own. 
As the philosophy of the Hebrew Scriptures 
is contained in the larger part of the book 
— possibly from older documents — so their 
poetry finds a voice in the conclusion, which 
is beyond question original. It is the song 
of praise ^ which, beginning with the glories 
of the Creation, breaks forth into that 
^' Hvmn of the Forefathers," as it is called 
in its ancient title, to which there is no 
parallel in the Old Testament, but of which 
the catalogue of the worthies of faith in 
the Epistle to the Hebrews is an obvious 
imitation. Here and here only is a full ex- 
pression given to that natural instinct of 
reverence for the mighty dead, which has in 
these striking words been heard from gene- 
ration to generation in the festivals of the 
great benefactors of Christendom, or when 
the illustrious of the earth are committed to 
the grave. ''Let us now praise famous men 
and the fathers that begat 



us." *' Their 



^ Ecclus. xxiii. i-6 ; xxxv. 17* 
^ Ecclus. xlii. 15-I. 29. 



12 Entrotiuction* 

bodies are buried in peace, but their name 
liveth for evermore." It begins with the 
unknown sages of antiquity ; it closes with 
the " Uhimus Judaeorum " as it seemed, of 
his own generation, Simon the Just. Well 
might the grandson delight to render into 
Greek for the countrymen of Pindar and 
Pericles a roll of heroes as noble as were 
ever commemorated at the Isthmian games 
or in the Athenian Ceramicus. 

The "Wisdom of the Son of Sirach " was 
followed, at how long an interval we know 
not, bv " the Wisdom of Solomon." As the 
former book was the expression of a sage 
at Jerusalem with a tincture of Alexandrian 
learning, so the latter book was the expres- 
sion of an Alexandrian sage presenting his 
Grecian ideas under the forms of Jewish 
history. We feel with him the oppressive 
atmosphere of the elaborate Egyptian idol- 
atry. We see through his eyes the ships 
passing along the Mediterranean waters into 
the Alexandrian harbor. We trace the foot- 
print of Aristotle in the enumeration, word 
by word, of the four great ethical virtues.^ 
We recognize the rhetoric of the Grecian 

^ Wisdom, viii. 7. 



Introtiucti0u. 



13 



sophists in the Ptolemaean Court ;^ we are 
present at the luxurious banquets and lax 
discussions of the neighboring philosophers 
of Cyrene.^ But in the midst of this Gen- 
tile scenery there is a voice which speaks 
with the authority of the ancient prophets 
to this new world. The book is a signal 
instance of the custom prevalent in the two 
centuries before the Christian era, both in 
the Jewish and the Gentile world, of placing 
modern untried writings under the shelter 
of some venerable authoritv. No name 
appeared for this purpose so weighty as 
that of the 2:reat master of the wisdom of 
Israel. Solomon is evoked from the dead 
past to address the rulers of mankind. 
"Love righteousness, ye that are judges of 
the earth. Hear therefore, O ye kings, and 
understand ; for your power is given unto 
you of the Lord, and your doniinion from 
the ^lost Hi^h, who shall trv vour works 
and search out vour counsels. Beins: 
ministers of His kingdom, ye have not 
judged aright, nor kept the law, nor walked 
after the counsel of God." ^ It is the first 
strong expression, uttered with the com- 



^ Wisdom, V. 9-12. 
3 Ibid.. V. 1-4. 



Wisdom, ii. 1-7. 



14 Intro'Ductfon, 

bined force of Greek freedom and Hebrew 
solemnity, not of the Divine right, but of 
the Divine duty, of kings ; and it might well 
be provoked by the spectacle of the corrupt 
rulers whether of the Egyptian or Syrian 
dynasties. The importance of wisdom and 
the value of justice had been often set forth 
before, both by Jew and Greek. But there 
is a wider and more tender grasp of the 
whole complex relation of intellectual and 
moral excellence, and therefore of the whole 
ideal of true religion, in the indications 
which this Book contains of the universal 
workings of the Divine Mind in the heart of 
man. "Love is the care of education ; love 
is the keeping of wisdom.-^ The just man 
maketh his boast that God is his father, and 
that he is the son of God.'^ The Spirit of 
the Lord filleth the world. ^ Thou sparest 
all, for they are thine, O Lord, thou lover of 
souls. ^ Thine incorruptible Spirit filleth all 
things. Thy providence, O Father, govern- 
eth the world." " The Holy Spirit of educa- 
tion." **An understanding Spirit, holy, one 
only, manifold, subtile, flexible, transparent,! 



^ Wisdom, vi. 17, 18. ^ Ibid., i. 7. 

Ibid., ii. 16-18. * Ibid., xi. 26. 



2 



Introtjuctian. 



IS 



undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt, loving 
the thing that is good, quick, which cannot 
be hindered, ready to do good, kind to man, 
steadfast, sure, free from care, having all 
power, overseeing all things and going 
through all spirits however pure, intelligent 
and subtile, more moving than any motion, 
passing through all things by reason of her 
pureness ; for she is the breath of the power 
of God, and an influence flowing from the 
genuine glory of the Almighty ; therefore no 
undefiled thins^ can fall into her : the brio:ht- 
ness of the everlasting light, the unspotted 

t mirror of the energy of God, and the image 
of his goodness ; being but one, she can do 

A all things ; and. remaining in herself, she 
maketh all things new, and in all ages 
entering into holy souls, she maketh them 
friends of God and prophets."-^ 

The conception of " Wisdom '' as " the 
personified idea of the mind of God in 
creation — a mirror in which the world and 
mankind are ever present to him "^ — is in 
part derived from the ancient Solomonian 
theology ; but it is colored by the Platonic 

^ Wisdom, vii. 22-27. 

^ Dollinger, Gentile aitd Jeiv^ ii. 384. 



1 6 Entrotmction* 

doctrine, and lends itself to the wide devel- 
opment opened by the doctrine of " the 
Word " in Christian theology, and by the 
doctrine of " Law " in European philosophy. 
The very phrases, " Love or Charity," ^' Holy 
Spirit," "only begotten," "manifold," "phil- 
anthropic," " Providence," " the Fatherhood 
of God," occur here in the Greek Bible, 
some of them in the Greek language, for the 
first time ; and appear not again till we find 
them in the New Testament. No wonder 
that this singular book has been ascribed to 
Philo, the famous contemporary of the Apos- 
tles, or to that other Jew of Alexandria,^ 
who was "eloquent and mighty in the Scrip- 
tures," and in whom Luther saw the author 
of the mysterious Epistle to the Hebrews. 
No wonder that Ewald, with his usual in- 
sight, declares, " that in the deep glow 
which, with all its apparent tranquillity, 
streams through its veins, in the nervous 
energy of its proverbial style, in the depth of 
its representations, we have a premonition 
of John ; and in the conception of heathen- 
ism a preparation for Paul, like a warm 
rustle of spring, ere the time is fully come."^ 

^ Acts, xviii. 24. 2 Ewald, v. 484. 



Entratiuctian, 17 

These preludings of a high philosophy 
and faith, whether two centuries before or 
close upon the dawn of the new era, are, in 
any case, the genuine product of Alexan- 
drian Judaism, of the union of Greek and 
Hebrew thought. And in one special quar- 
ter of the religious horizon, there is a revela- 
tion which this unknown author is the first 
to proclaim, with the authority of firm con- 
viction and deep insight, whether to the ' 
Gentile or the Jew; namely, the revelation 
of " the hope full of immortality," " the im- 
mortalitv of rio:hteousness." -^ In the Psalm- 
ists and Prophets there had been bright 
anticipations of such a hope, inseparable 
from their unfailing assurance of the power 
and goodness of the Eternal. But it never 
took the form of a positive, distinct asser- 
tion. In the Grecian world a vast step 
forward was taken in the Platonic repre- 
sentations of the last teaching of Socrates. 
-At last the seed thus sown by the doctrine 
of Athenian philosophy, fell on the deep 
soil of a Hebrew faith, and struck root 
downward to a depth from which it has 
never since been eradicated, and bore fruit 

^ Wisdom, iii. 4; i. 15. 
2 



i8 . Introtitiction* 

upward, which has sustained the moral life 
of Christendom to this hour. Nor is it only 
the force and pathos with which this truth 
of a future existence is urged, but the grounds 
on which it is based, that fill the soul and 
intensify the teaching of this Jewish Phaedo. 
It is founded on those two convictions, 
which, alike to the most philosophic and the 
most simple minds, still seem the most 
cogent, — the imperfection of a good man's 
existence if limited to this present life, and 
the firm grasp on the Divine perfections. 
" The souls of the righteous are in the hand 
of God. In the sight of the unwise they 
seemed to die ; but they are in peace." 
" He, being made perfect in a short time, 
fulfilled a long time." " God created man 
to be immortal, and made him an image of 
His own eternity. To know God is per- 
fect righteousness. To know his power is 
the root of immortality." ^ 

^ Wisdom, ii. 23 ; iii. i, 2 ; iv. 13 ; xv. 3. 



SELECTION'S FROM THE APOCRYPHA. 



E^t SEistfom of cSolomotu 



. . CHAPTER I. 

LOVE righteousness, ye that be judges 
of the earth : think of the Lord with 
a good (heart,) and in simplicity of heart 
seek him. 

2 For he will be found of them that tempt 
him not : and sheweth himself unto such as 
do not distrust him. 

3 For fro ward thoughts separate from 
God : and his power, when it is tried, re- 
proveth the unwise. 

4 For into a malicious soul wisdom shall 
not enter; nor dwell in the body that is 
subject unto sin. 

5 For the holy spirit of discipline will flee 
deceit, and remove from thoughts that are 
without understanding, and will not abide 
when unrio:hteousness cometh in. 



20 '2rf)E TOistiom of Solomon* 

6 For wisdom is a loving spirit ; and will 
not acquit a blasphemer of his words : for 
God is witness of his reins, and a true be- 
holder of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue. 

7 For the Spirit of the Lord filleth the 
world : and that which containeth all things 
hath knowledge of the voice. 

8 Therefore he that speaketh unrighteous 
things cannot be hid : neither shall ven- 
geance, when it punisheth, pass by him. 

9 For inquisition shall be made into the 
counsels of the ungodly: and the sound of 
his words shall come unto the Lord for the 
manifestation of his wicked deeds. 

10 For the ear of jealousy heareth all 
things : and the noise of murmurings is not 
hid. 

1 1 Therefore beware of murmuring, which 
is unprofitable ; and refrain your tongue 
from backbiting: for there is no word so 
secret, that shall go for nought : and the 
mouth that belieth, slayeth the soul. 

12 Seek not death in the error of your 
life : and pull not upon yourselves destruc- 
tion with the works of your hands. 

13 For God made not death : neither hath 
he pleasure in the destruction of the living. 



^i)z SJSfstJom of Solamom 21 

14 For he created all things, that they 
might have their being: and the generations 
of the world were healthful ; and there is 
no poison of destruction in them, nor the 
kingdom of death upon the earth : 

15 (For righteousness is immortal :) 

16 But ungodly men with their works and 
words called 2/ to them; for when they 
thouG^ht to have it their friend, thev con- 
sumed to nought, and made a covenant 
with it, because they are worthy to take part 
with it. 

CHAPTER II. 

FOR the tingodly said, reasoning with 
themselves, but not aright, Our life 
is short and tedious, and in the death of a 
man there is no remedv : neither was there 
any man knowm to have returned from the 
grave. 

2 For we are born at all adventure : and 
we shall be hereafter as though w^e had never 
been : for the breath in our nostrils is as 
smoke, and a little spark in the moving of 
our heart, 

3 Which being extinguished, our body 



2 2 E^i}z Wii^tiam of Solomon, 

shall be turned into ashes, and our spirit 
shall vanish as the soft air, 

4 And our name shall be forgotten in time, 
and no man shall have our works in remem- 
brance, and our life shall pass away as the 
trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as the 

mist that is driven awav with the beams of 

■J 

the sun, and overcome with the heat thereof. 

5 For our time is a very shadow that pass- 
eth away ; and after our end there is no re- 
turning : for it is fast sealed, so that no man 
Cometh again. 

6 Come on therefore, let us enjoy the good 
things that are present: and let us speedily 
use the creatures like as in youth. 

7 Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and 
ointments : and let no flower of the spring 
pass by us : 

8 Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds 
before thev be withered : 

9 Let none of us go without his part of 
our voluptuousness : ^ let us leave tokens of 
our joyful ness in every place ; for this is our 
portion, and our lot is this. 

ID Let us oppress the poor righteous man,! 
let us not spare the widow, nor reverence thej 
ancient gray hairs of the aged. 

' Or, jollity. 



SEJ^e ?j5!Ei3tiom o( Solomon* 23 

^^11 Let our strength be the law of justice : 
for that which is feeble is found to be nothing 
worth. 

12 Therefore let us lie in wait for the 
righteous : because he is not for our turn, 
and he is clean contrary to our doing^s : he 
upbraideth us with our offending the law, and 
objecteth to our infamy the transgressings of 
our education. 

13 He professeth to have the knowledge 
of God : and he calleth himself the child of 
the Lord. 

14 He was made to reprove our thoughts. 

15 He is grievous unto us even to behold : 
for his life is not like other men's, his ways 
are of another fashion. 

16 We are esteemed of him as counter- 
feits : he abstaineth from our ways as from 
filthiness : he pronounceth the end of the 
just to be blessed, and maketh his boast that 
God is his father. 

17 Let us see if his words be true : and let 
us prove what shall happen in the end of him. 

18 For if the just man be the son of God, 
he will help him, and deliver him from the 
hand of his enemies. 

19 Let us examine him with despitefulness 



24 2Cj}e OTlistiom of Solomon* 

• 

and torture, that we may know his meekness 
and prove his patience. 

20 Let us condemn him with a shameful 
death : for by his own saying he shall be 
respected. 

21 Such things they did imagine, and were 
deceived : for their own wickedness hath 
blinded them. 

22 As for the mysteries of God, they knew 
them not : neither hoped they for the wages 
of righteousness, nor discerned a reward for 
blameless souls. 

23 For God created man to be immortal, 
and made him to be an image of his own 
eternity. 

24 Nevertheless, through envy of the devil 
came death into the world : and they that do 
hold of his side do find it. 



CHAPTER III. 

BUT the souls of the righteous are in the 
hand of God, and there shall no tor- 
ment touch them. 

2 In the sight of the unwise they seemed to 
die : and their departure is taken for misery, 



Ojc OEisti0m of Solomon* 25 

3 And their going from us to be utter 
destruction : but they are in peace. 

4 For though they be punished in the sight 
of men, yet is their hope full of immortality. 

5 And having been a little chastised, they 
shall be greatly rewarded : for God proved 
them, and found them worthv for himself. 

6 As gold in the furnace hath he tried 
them, and received them as a burnt offering. 

7 And in the time of their visitation, they 
shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks 
amono: the stubble. 

8 They shall judge the nations, and have 
dominion over the people, and their Lord 
shall reign for ever. 

9 They that put their trust in him shall 
understand the truth : and such as be faith- 
ful in love shall abide with him: for grace 
and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care 
for his elect. 

10 But the ungodly shall be punished 
according to their own imaginations, which 
have neglected the righteous, and forsaken 
the Lord. 

11 For whoso despiseth wisdom and nur- 
ture, he is miserable and their hope is vain, 
their labors unfruitful, and their works un- 
profitable : 



26 STijc OEistiom of Solomon. 

12 Their wives are foolish, and their chil- 
dren wicked : 

13 Their offspring is cursed. Wherefore 
blessed is the barren that isundefiled, which 
hath not known the sinful bed : she shall 
have fruit in the visitation of souls. 

14 And blessed is the eunuch, which with 
his hands hath wrought no iniquity, nor im- 
agined wicked things against God : for unto 
him shall be given the special gift of faith,, 
and an inheritance in the temple of the Lord 
more acceptable to his mind. 

15 For glorious is the fruit of good labors : 
and the root of wisdom shall never fall away. 

16 As for the children of adulterers they 
shall not come to their perfection, and the 
seed of an unrighteous bed shall be rooted 
out. 

17 For though they live long, yet shall they 
be nothing regarded : and their last age shall 
be without honor. 

18 Or, if they die quickly, they have no 
hope, neither comfort in the day of trial. 

19 For horrible is the end of the unright- 
eous generation. 



(L^i^t 2LI3i3tiom df Sclomou. 27 



CHAPTER IV. 

BETTER it is to have no children, and to 
have virtue : for the memorial thereof 
is immortal : because it is known with God, 
and with men. 

2 When it is present men take example 
at it ; and when it is gone, the}' desire it : it 
weareth a crown, and triumpheth for ever, 
having gotten the victory, striving for un de- 
filed rewards. 

3 But the multiplying brood of the ungodly 
shall not thrive, nor take deep rooting from 
bastard slips, nor lay any fast foundation. 

4 For though they flourish in branches for 
a time ; yet standing not fast, they shall be 
shaken with the wind, and through the force 
of winds thev shall be rooted out. 

5 The imperfect branches shall be broken 
off, their fruit unprofitable, not ripe to eat, 
yea, meet for nothing. 

6 For children begotten of unlawful beds, 
are witnesses of wickedness against their 
parents in their trial. 

7 But though the righteous be prevented 
with death, yet shall he be at rest. 



28 m)z miQUm of Scilomoit. 

8 For honorable age is not that which 
standeth in length of time, nor that is meas- 
ured by number of years. 

9 But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, 
and an unspotted life is old age. 

10 He pleased God, and was beloved of 
him : so that living among sinners he was 
translated. 

11 Yea, speedily was he taken away, lest 
that wickedness should alter his understand- 
ing, or deceit beguile his soul. 

12 For the bewitching of naughtiness doth 
obscure things that are honest ; and the wan- 
dering of concupiscence doth undermine-^ the 
simple mind. 

13 He, being made perfect^ in a short 
time, fulfilled a long time : 

14 For his soul pleased the Lord : there- 
fore hasted he /^ hike him awajhom among 
the wicked. 

15 This the people saw, and understood it 
not, neither laid they up this in their minds. 
That his grace and mercy is with his saints, 
and that he hath respect unto his chosen. 

16 Thus the righteous that is dead shall 
condemn the ungodly which are living ; and 

' Pervert. ^ Sanctified. 



Wi)z EHfetiom of .Solomon* 29 

youth that is soon perfected the many years 
and old age of the unrighteous. 

17 For they shall see the end of the wise, 
and shall not understand what God in his 
counsel hath decreed of him, and to what 
end the Lord hath set him in safety. 

18 They shall see him, and despise him ; 
but God shall laugh them to scorn ; and they 
shall hereafter be a vile carcase, and a re- 
proach among the dead for evermore. 

19 For he shall rend them, and cast them 
down headlong, that they shall be speechless; 
and he shall shake them from the foundation; 
and they shall be utterly laid waste, and be 
in sorrow; and their memorial shall perish. 

20 x\nd when they cast up the accounts of 
their sins, they shall come with fear; and 
their own iniquities shall convince them to 
their face. 



CHAPTER V. 

HEN shall the righteous man stand in 
great boldness before the face of such 
as have afflicted him, and made no account 
of his labors. 

2 When they see it, they shall be troubled 



T 



30 STfje JUistiom of Solomon* 

with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the 
stranoeness of his salvation, so far bevond 
all that they looked for. 

3 And they repenting and groaning for 
anguish of spirit shall say within themselves, 
This was he, whom we had sometimes in 
derision, and a proverb of reproach : 

4 We fools accounted his life madness, 
and his end to be without honor : 

5 How is he numbered among the children 
of God, and his lot is among the saints ! 

6 Therefore have we erred from the way 
of truth, and the light of righteousness hath 
not shined unto us, and the sun of righteous- 
ness rose not upon us. 

7 We wearied ^ ourselves in the way of 
wickedness and destruction: yea, we have 
gone through deserts, where there lay no 
way : but as for the way of ' the Lord, we 
have not known it. 

8 What hath pride profited us ? or what 
good hath riches with our vaunting brought 
us ? 

9 All those things are passed away like a 
shadow, and as a post that hasted by ; 

10 And as a ship that passeth over the 

^ Or, filled ourselves, or, surfeited. 






3ri)e OSistiom of Solomon. 31 

waves of the water, which when it is o-one bv, 
the trace thereof cannot be found, neither 
the pathway of the keel in the waves ; 

11 Or as when a bird hath flown through 
the air, there is no token of her wav to be 
found, but the light air being beaten with 
the stroke of her wings, and parted with the 
violent noise and motion of them, is passed 
throuo;li, and therein afterward no sisrn where 
she went is to be found ; 

12 Or like as when an arrow is shot at a 
mark, it parteth the air, which immediately 
Cometh together again, so that a man cannot 
know where it went throuo'h : 

13 Even so w^e in like manner, as soon as 
we were born, began to draw to our end, and 
had no sign of virtue to shew; but were 
consumed in our own wickedness. 

14 For the hope of the ungodly is like 
dust^ that is blown awav with the wind ; like 
a thin froth that is driven awav with the 
storm ; like as the smoke which is dispersed 
here and there with a tempest, and passeth 
awav as the remembrance of a o-uest that 
tarrieth but a dav. 

15 But the righteous live for evermore; 

^ Or, thistledown. 



32 2Cf)e Olis'tiam ot SoIoTn0n» 

their reward also is with the Lord, and the 
care of them is with the Most High. 

1 6 Therefore shall they receive a glorious 
kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the 
Lord's hand ; for with his right hand shall 
he cover them, and with his arm shall he 
protect them. 

17 He shall take to him his jealousy for 
complete armor, and make the creature his 
weapon for the revenge of his enemies. 

18 He shall put on righteousness as a 
breastplate, and true judgment instead of an 
helmet. 

19 He shall take holiness -^ for an invin- 
cible shield. 

20 His severe wrath shall he sharpen for 
a sword, and the world shall fight with him 
against the unwise. 

21 Then shall the n'o^ht aimins: thunder- 
bolts go abroad ; and from the clouds, as 
from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the 
mark. 

22 And hailstones full of wrath shall be 
cast as out of a stone bow, and the water of 
the sea shall rage against them, and the 
floods shall cruelly drown them. 

^ Or, equity. 



3r{)e JIMistiom of Solomon. ss- 

23 Yea, a mighty wind shall stand up 
against them, and like a storm shall blow 
them awa}'- : thus iniquity shall lay ^vaste the 
whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow 
the thrones of the miohtv. 



CHAPTER VI. 



HEAR therefore, O ye kings, and under- 
stand; learn, ye that be judges of 
the ends of the earth. 

2 Give ear, ye that rule the people, and 
o-lorv in the multitude of nations. 

3 For power is given you of the Lord, 
and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall 
try your w^orks,and search out your counsels. 

4 Because, being ministers of his king- 
dom, ye have not judged aright, nor kept 
the law, nor walked after the counsel of 
God ; 

5 Horribly and speedily shall he come 
upon you ; for a sharp judgment shall be to 
them that be in high places. 

6 For mercy will soon pardon the mean- 
est : but mighty men shall be mightily tor- 
mented. 

7 For he which is Lord over all shall fear 






'34 5E]^^ JUistJom of Scilam0n» 

no man's person, neither shall he stand in 
awe of any man's greatness ; for he hath 
made the small and great, and careth for 
all alike. 

8 But a sore trial shall come upon the 
mighty. 

9 Unto you therefore, O kings, do I 
speak, that ye may learn wisdom, and not 
fall away. 

10 For they that keep holiness holily 
shall be judged holy ; ^ and they that have 
learned such things shall find what to 
answer. 

11 Wherefore set your affection upon 
my words ; desire them, and ye shall be in- 
structed. 

12 Wisdom is glorious, and never fadeth 
away: yea, she is easily seen of them that 
love her, and found of such as seek her. 

13 She preventeth them that desire her, 
in making herself first known unto them. 

14 Whoso seeketh her early shall have no 
great travail ; for he shall find her sitting at 
his doors. 

15 To think therefore upon her is perfec- 
tion of wisdom : and whoso watcheth for her 
shall quickly be without care. 

^ Or, justified. 



Oje 5[JHistioni of Solomon. 35 



16 For she goeth about seeking such as 
are worthy of her, sheweth herself favorably 
unto them in the ways, and meeteth them in 
every thouo-ht. 

17 For the verv true beoinnino; of her is 
the desire of discipline ; ^ and the care of 
discipline is love ; 

18 And love is the keeping of her laws ; 
and the o:ivino: heed unto her laws is the as- 
surance of incorruption ; 

19 And incorruption maketh us near un- 
to God : 

20 Therefore the desire of wisdom bring- 
eth to a kingdom. 

21 If vour delio'ht be then in thrones and 
sceptres, O ye kings of the people, honor 
wisdom, that ve mav reio^n for evermore. 

2 2 As for wisdom, what she is, and how 
she came up, I will tell you, and will not 
hide mysteries from you ; but will seek her 
out from the beginning of her nativity, and 
bring the knowledge of her into light, and 
will not pass over the truth. 

23 Neither will I go with consuming envy ; 
for such a man shall have no fellowship 
with wisdom. 

^ Or, nurture. 



36 E\)t ElSfsliom of Solomon. 

24 But the multitude of the wise is the 
welfare of the world ; and a wise king is the 
upholding of the people. 

25 Receive therefore instruction through 
my words, and it shall do you good. 



CHAPTER VII. 

I MYSELF also am a mortal man, like to 
all, and the offspring of him that was 
first made of the earth, 

2 And in my mother's womb was fash- 
ioned to be flesh in the time of ten months, 
being compacted in blood, of the seed of 
man, and the pleasure that came with sleep. 

3 And when I was born, I drew in the 
common air, and fell upon the earth, which 
is of like nature, and the first voice which I 
uttered was crying, as all others do. 

4 I was nursed in swaddling clothes, and 
that with cares. 

5 For there is no king that had any other 
beginning of birth. 

6 For all men have one entrance into life, 
and the like going out. 

7 Wherefore I prayed, and understanding 



3r|>c OIEistiotn nf Solomon. 37 

was given me : I called tipon God, and the 
spirit of wisdom came to me. 

8 I preferred her before sceptres and 
thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in 
comparison of her. 

9 Neither compared I unto her any pre- 
cious stone, because all gold in respect of her 
is as a little sand, and silver shall be counted 
as clay before her. 

10 I loved her above health and beauty, 
and chose to have her instead of lis^ht : for 
the li2:ht that cometh from her never g-oeth 
out. 

11 All good things together came to me 
with her, and innumerable riches in her 
hands. 

12 And I rejoiced in the?}t all, because 
wisdom goeth before them ; and I knew not 
that she was the mother of them. 

13 I learned diligently, and do commu- 
nicate her liberally : I do not hide her 
riches. 

14 For she is a treasure unto men that 
never faileth : which they that use become 
the friends of God, being commended for 
the gifts that come from learning. 

15 God hath granted ^ me to speak as I 

^ Or, God grant. 



; 



n 



S^ €1)0 WiiQtiom of Soloman. 

would, and to conceive as is meet for the 
things that are ^ given ine ; because it is he 
that leadeth unto wisdom, and directeth the 
wise. 

1 6 For in his hand are both we and our 
words ; all wisdom also, and knowledge of 
workmanship. 

17 For he hath given me certain knowl- 
edge of the things that are, namely, to know 
how the world was made, and the operation 
of the elements : 

18 The beginning, ending, and midst of 
the times : the alterations of the turning 
of the sun, and the change of seasons : 

19 The circuits of years, and the positions 
of stars : 

20 The natures of living creatures, and 
the furies of wild beasts : the violence of 
winds, and the reasonings of men : the diver- 
sities of plants, and the virtues of roots : 

21 And all such things as are either secret 
or manifest, them I know. 

22 For wisdom, which is the worker of 
all things, taught me ; for in her is an un- 
derstanding spirit, holy, one only, ^ manifold, 



^ Or, that are to be spoken of. 
Or, only begotten. 



2 



2rije ?12EfstJom of Solomon* 39 

subtil, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not 
subject to hurt, loving the thing that is 
good, quick, which cannot be letted, ready 
to do good, 

23 Kind to man, steadfast, sure, free 
from care, having all power, overseeing all 
things, and going through all understanding, 
pure, and most subtil, spirits, 
p 24 For wisdom is more moving than any 
motion : she passeth and goeth through all 
things by reason of her pureness. 

25 For she is the breath of the power of 
-God, and a pure influence flowing from the 
glory of the Almighty : therefore can no de- 
filed thing fall into her. 

26 For she is the brightness of the ever- 
lasting light, the unspotted mirror of the 
power of God, and the image of his good- 
ness. 

27 And being but one, she can do all 
things : and remaining in herself she maketh 
all thino-s new : and in all as^es entering: into 
holy souls, she maketh them friends of God, 
and prophets. 

28 For God loveth none but him that ^ 
dwelleth with wisdom. 

29 For she is more beautiful than the 



40 Srtje ?!JEistiam of Solomon* 

sun, and above all the order of stars : being 
compared with the light, she is found be- 
fore it. 

30 For after this cometh night : but vice 
shall not prevail against wisdom. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

JJ/'ISDOM reacheth from one end to 
^ ^ another mightily ; and sweetly doth 
she order all things. 

2 I loved her, and sought her out from 
my youth, I desired to make her my spouse, 
and I was a lover of her beauty. 

3 In that she is conversant with God, she 
magnifieth her nobility : yea, the Lord of all 
things himself loved her. 

4 For she is privy to the mysteries of the 
knowledge of God, and a lover of his works. 

5 If riches be a possession to be desired 
in this life ; what is richer than wisdom, 
that worketh all things 1 

6 And if prudence work ; who of all that 
are, is a more cunning workman than she.'' 

7 And if a man love righteousness, her 
labors are virtues : for she teacheth temper- 



Kje JMistiom of Salomon, 41 

ance and prudence, justice and fortitude : 
which are such things, as men can have 
nothing more profitable in their life. 

8 If a man desire much experience, she 
knoweth things of old, and conjectureth 
aright what is to come : she knoweth the 
subtilties of speeches, and can expound 
dark sentences : she foreseeth signs and 
w^onders, and the events of seasons and 

^imes. 

' 9 Therefore I purposed to take her to me 
to live with me, knowing that she would be 
a counsellor of good things, and a comfort 
in cares and grief. 

10 For her sake I shall have estimation 
among the multitude, and honor with the 
elders, though I be young. 

Ill shall be found of a quick conceit in 
judgment, and shall be admired in the sight 
of great men. 

12 When I hold my tongue, they shall 
bide my leisure, and when I speak, they 
shall give good ear unto me : if I talk much, 
they shall lay their hands upon their mouth. 

13 Aloreover by the means of her I shall 
obtain immortality, and leave behind me an 

j everlasting memorial to them that come 
! after me. 



42 E\}t EJEistiam of Solomon* 

14 I shall set the people in order, and the 
nations shall be subject unto me. 

15 Horrible tyrants shall be afraid, when 
they do but hear of me ; I shall be found 
good among the multitude, and valiant in 
war. 

16 After I am come into mine house, I 
will repose myself with her ; for her con- 
versation hath no bitterness ; and to live 
with her hath no sorrow, but mirth and joy. 

17 Now, when I considered these things 
in myself, and pondered them in mine heart, 
how that to be allied unto wisdom is immor- 
tality ; 

18 And great pleasure it is to have her 
friendship; and in the works of her hands 
are infinite riches ; and in the exercise of 
conference with her, prudence ; and in talk- 
ing with her, a good report ; I went about 
seeking how to take her to me. 

19 For I was a witty child, and had a 
good spirit. 

20 Yea, rather, being good, I came into a 
body undefiled. 

21 Nevertheless, when I perceived that I 
could not otherwise obtain her, except God 
gave her me ; and that was a point of wis- 



E\)z OEistiom of Solomon* 43 

dom also to know whose gift she was ; I 
prayed unto the Lord, and besought him, 
and with my whole heart I said, 



CHAPTER IX. 



OGOD of my fathers, and Lord of 
mercy, who hast made all things with 
thv word, 

2 And ordained man through thy wisdom, 
that he should have dominion over the 
creatures which thou hast made, 

3 And order the world according to 
equity and righteousness, and execute judg- 
ment with an upright heart : 

4 Give me wisdom, that sitteth by thy 

throne ; and reject me not from among thy 
children ; 

5 For I thy servant and son of thine hand- 
maid am a feeble person, and of a short 
time, and too young for the understanding 
of judgment and laws. 

6 For though a man be never so perfect 
among the children of men, yet if thy wis- 
dom be not with him, he shall be nothing 
regarded. 

7 Thou hast chosen me to be a king of 



44 2Cj)e ESEi'sticiin of Solomon* 

thy people, and a judge of thy sons and 
daughters : 

8 Thou hast commanded me to build a 
temple upon thy holy mount, and an altar in 
the city wherein thou dwellest, a resemblance 
of the holy tabernacle, which thou hast pre- 
pared from the beginning. 

9 And wisdom was with thee : which 
knoweth thy works, and was present when 
thou madest the w^orld, and knew what was 
acceptable in thy sight, and right in thy 
commandments. 

10 O send her out of thv holv heavens, 
and from the throne of thy glory, that being 
present she may labor with me, that I may 
know what is pleasing unto thee. 

11 For she knoweth and understandeth 
all things, and she shall lead me soberly in 
my doings, and preserve me in her power. 

12 So shall my works be acceptable, and 
then shall I judge thy people righteously, 
and be wortliy to sit in my father's seat. 

13 For what man is he that can know, 
the counsel of God ? or who can think what] 
the wall of the Lord is ? 

14 For the thoughts of mortal men are| 
miserable, and our devices are but uncer- 
tain. 




Ojc OSistioin of Solomon. 45 



15 For the corruptible body presseth 
down the soul, and the earthy tabernacle 
weigheth down the mind that museth upon 
many things. 

16 And hardly do we guess aright at 
things that are upon earth, and with labor 

lo we find the thino:s that are before us : 
but the thino's that are in heaven who hath 
searched out ? 

17 And thy counsel who hath known, 
except thou give wisdom, and send thy Holy 
Spirit from above ? 

18 For so the wavs of them which lived 
on the earth were reformed, and men were 
taught the things that are pleasing unto 

I thee, and were saved through wisdom. 



CHAPTER X. 

SHE preserved the iirst-formed father of 
the world, that was created alone, and 
brought him out of his fall, 

2 And gave him power to rule all things. 

3 But when the unrighteous went away 
|Erom her in his anger, he perished also in 
[the fury wherewith he murdered his brother. 



46 Cfje JHSistJom of Solomon* 

4 For whose cause the earth being 
drowned with the flood, wisdom again pre- 
served it, and directed the course of the 
righteous in a piece of wood of small value. 

5 Moreover, the nations in their wicked 
conspiracy being confounded, she found out 
the righteous, and preserved him blameless 
unto God, and kept him strong against ^ his 
tender compassion toward his son. 

6 When the ungodly perished, she de- 
livered the righteous man, who fled from the 
fire which fell down upon the five cities. 

7 Of whose wickedness even to this day 
the waste land that smoketh is a testimony, 
and plants bearing fruit that never come to 
ripeness; and a standing pillar of salt is a 
monument of an unbelieving soul. 

8 For regarding not wisdom, they gat not^ 
only this hurt, that they knew not the things 
which w^ere good ; but also left behind them 
to the world a memorial of their foolishness : 
so that in the things wherein they offended 
they could not so much as be hid. 

9 But wisdom delivered from pain those 
that attended upon her. 

ID When the righteous fled from his 

I Or, in. 



2Cf)e OEi2ti0m of Solomon* 47 

brother's wrath, she guided him in right 
paths, shewed him the kingdom of God, and 
gave him knowledge of holy things, made 
him rich in his travels, and multiplied the 
fruit of his labors. 

11 In the covetousness of such as op- 
pressed him she stood by him, and made 
him rich. 

12 She defended him from his enemies, 
and kept him safe from those that lay in 
wait, and in a sore conflict she gave him 
die victorv ; that he mio-ht know that o-odli- 
ness is stronger than all. 

13 When the righteous w^as sold, she 
forsook him not, but delivered him from sin : 
she went down with him into the pit, 

14 And left him not in bonds, till she 
brought him the sceptre of the kingdom, and 
power against those that oppressed him : 
as for them that had accused him, she 
shewed them to be liars, and gave him per- 
petual glory. 

15 She delivered the righteous people an'd 
blameless seed from the nation that op- 
pressed them. 

16 She entered into the soul of the ser- 
vant of the Lord, and withstood dreadful 
kings in wonders and signs; 



48 STfje raiigtjom of Solomon* 

17 Rendered to the righteous a reward 
of their labors, guided them in a marvellous 
way, and was unto them for a covert by day, 
and a light of stars ^ in the night season ; 

18 Brought them through the Red Sea, 
and led them through much water : 

19 But she drowned their enemies, and 
cast them up out of the bottom of the deep. 

20 Therefore the righteous spoiled the 
ungodly, and praised thy holy name, O Lord, 
and magnified with one accord thine hand, 
that fought for them. 

21 For wnsdom opened the mouth of the 
dumb, and made the tongues of them that 
cannot speak eloquent. 



CHAPTER XL 

SHE prospered their works in the hand 
of the holy prophet. 

2 They went through the wilderness that 
was not inhabited, and pitched tents in 
places where there lay no way. 

3 They stood against their enemies, and 
were avenged of their adversaries. 

^ Or, flame. 



^^z OEistiom nf Solomon, 49 

4 When they were thirsty, they called up- 
on thee, and water was given them out 
of the flintv rock, and their thirst was 
quenched out of the hard stone. 

5 For by what things their enemies were 
punished^ by the same they in their need 
were benefited. 

6 For instead of a fountain of a perpetual 
running river troubled with foul blood, 

7 For a manifest reproof of that com- 
mandment, whereby the infants were slain, 
thou gavest unto them abundance of water 
by a means which they hoped not for : 

8 Declarinor bv that thirst then how thou 
hadst punished their adversaries. 

9 For when they were tried, albeit but in 
mercy chastised, they knew how the ungodly 
were judged in wrath and tormented, thirst- 
ing in another manner than the just. 

10 For these thou didst admonish and 
try, as a father : but the other, as a severe 
king, thou didst condemn and punish. 

11 Whether thev were absent or present, 
thev were vexed alike. 

12 For a double grief came upon them, 
and a o-roanins: for the remembrance of 
things past. 

4 



so STj^e BISijotJcim of Solomon* 

13 For when they heard by their own 
punishments the other to be benefited, they 
had some feeling of the Lord. 

14 For whom they rejected with scorn, 
when he was long before thrown out at the 
casting forth of the infants^ him in the end, 
when they saw what came to pass, they ad- 
mired. 

15 But for the foolish devices of their 
wickedness, wherewith being deceived they 
worshipped serpents void of reason, and 
vile beasts, thou didst send a multitude of 
unreasonable beasts upon them for ven- 
geance ; 

16 That they might know, that where- 
withal a man sinneth, by the same also 
shall he be punished. 

17 For thy Almighty hand, that made the 
world of matter without form, wanted not 
means to send among them a multitude of 
bears, or fierce lions, 

18 Or unknown wild beasts, full of rage, 
newly created, breathing out either a fiery 
vapor, or filthy scents of scattered smoke, or 
shooting horrible sparkles out of their eyes : 

19 Whereof not only the harm might dis- 
patch them at once, but also the terrible 
sight utterly destroy them. 



2rf}e HEistiom of Solomon, 51 

20 Yea, and without these might they 
have fallen down with one blast, being per- 
secuted of vengeance, and scattered abroad 
through the breath of thy power : but thou 
hast ordered all thino;s in measure and num- 
ber and weight. 

21 For thou canst shew thy great strength 
at all times when thou wilt ; and who may 
withstand the power of thine arm ? 

22 For the whole world before thee is as 
a little grain of the balance, yea, as a drop 
of the morning dew that falleth down upon 
the earth. 

23 But thou hast mercy upon all ; for 
I thou canst do all things, and winkest at the 

sins of men, because they should amend. 

24 For thou lovest all the things that are, 
and abhorrest nothing which thou hast 
made : for never w^ouldest thou have made 
any thing, if thou hadst hated it. 

25 And how^ could any thing have en- 
dured, if it had not been thv will ? or been 
preserved, if not called by thee ? 

26 But thou sparest all : for they are 
thine, O Lord, thou lover of souls. 



52 Eljz raii^tiom of Solomon, 



CHAPTER XII. 

FOR thine incorruptible Spirit is in all 
things. 

2 Therefore chastenest thou them by lit- 
tle and little that offend, and warnest them 
by putting them in remembrance wherein 
they have offended, that leaving their wick- 
edness they may believe on thee, O Lord. 

3 For it was thy will to destroy by the 
hands of our fathers both those old inhabi- 
tants of thy holy land, 

4 Whom thou hatedst for doing most 
odious works of witchcrafts, and wicked 
sacrifices ; 

5 And also those merciless murderers of 
children, and devourers of man's flesh, and 
the feasts of blood, 

6 With their priests out of the midst of 
their idolatrous crew, and the parents, that 
killed with their own hands souls destitute 
of help : 

7 That the land, which thou esteemedst 
above all other, might receive a w^orthy col- 
ony of God's children. 

8 Nevertheless, even those thou sparedst 



E\jz EJEistom of 50{otnon* 53 

as men, and did send wasps, forerunners 
of thine host, to destroy them by little and 
Httle. 

9 Not that thou wast unable to bring the 
ungodly under the hand of the righteous in 
battle, or to destroy them at once with cruel 
beasts, or with one rough word : 

10 But executing thy judgments upon 
them by little and little, thou gavest them 
place of repentance, not being ignorant that 
they were a naughty generation, and that 
their malice was bred in them, and that their 
cogitation would never be changed. 

1 1 For it was a cursed seed from the 
beginning; neither didst thou for fear of 
any man give them pardon for those things 
wherein they sinned. 

12 For who shall say, what hast thou 
done ? or who shall withstand thy judgment ? 
or who shall accuse thee for the nations that 
perish, whom thou hast made? or who shall 
come to stand against thee, to be revenged 
for the unrighteous men ? 

13 For neither is there any God but thou 
that carest for all, to whom thou mightest 
shew that thy judgment is not unright. 

14 Neither shall king or tyrant be able 



54 2Ci)^ TOistiom of Solamom 

to set his face against thee for any of whom 
thou hast punished. 

15 Forsomuch then as thou art righteous 
thyself, thou orderest all things righteously : 
thinking it not agreeable with thy power to 
condemn him that hath not deserved to be 
punished. 

16 For thy powder is the beginning of 
righteousness, and because thou art the Lord 
of all, it maketh thee to be gracious unto all. 

17 For w^hen men will not believe that 
thou art of a full power, thou shewest thy 
strength, and among them that know it thou 
makest their boldness manifest. 

18 But thou, mastering thy power, judg- 
est with equity, and orderest us with great 
favour : for thou mayest use power when 
thou wilt. 

19 But by such w^orks hast thou taught 
thy people that the just man should be 
merciful, and hast made thy children to be 
of a good hope that thou givest repentance 
for sins. 

20 For if thou didst punish the enemies 
of thy children, and the condemned to death, 
with such deliberation, giving them time and 
place, whereby they might be delivered from 
their malice : 



Srije 2jSistjam of Sclcim0n» 



55 



21 With how great circumspection didst 
thou judge thine own sons, unto whose 
fathers thou hast sworn, and made cove- 
nants of good promises? 

22 Therefore, whereas thou dost chasten 
us, thou scourgest our enemies a thousand 
times more, to the intent that, when we judge 
we should carefully think of thy goodness, 
and when we ourselves are judged, we should 
look for me rev. 

23 Wherefore, whereas men have lived 
dissolutelv and unrioditeouslv, thou hast 
tormented them with their own abomina- 
tions. 

24 For thev went astrav verv far in the 
ways of error, and held them for gods, which 
even among the beasts of their enemies were 
despised, being deceived, as children of no 
understanding. 

25 Therefore unto them, as to children 
without the use of reason, thou didst send 
a judgment to mock them. 

26 But they that would not be reformed 
by that correction, wherein he dallied with 
them, shall feel a judgment worthy of God. 

27 For, look, for what things they grudged, 
when they were punished, that is, for them- 



56 ^\}z Wii^tiom ot Solomon. 

whom they thought to be gods ; [now] being 
punished in them, when they saw it, they 
acknowledged him to be the true God, whom 
before they denied to know ; and therefore 
came extreme damnation upon them. 



s 



CHAPTER XIII. 

URELY vain are all men by nature, who 
are ignorant of God, and could not out 
of the good things that are seen know him 
that is : neither by considering the works 
did they acknowledge the work-master ; 

2 But deemed either fire, or wind, or the 
swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the 
violent water, or the lights of heaven, to be 
the gods w'hich govern the world. 

3 With wdiose beauty if they being de- 
lighted took them to be gods : let them 
know how much better the Lord of them 
is : for the first author of beauty hath cre- 
ated them. 

4 But if they w^ere astonished at their 
powder and virtue, let them understand by 
them, how much mightier he is that made 
them. 



^\)z JMistiom of Solomon. 



57 



5 For by the greatness and beauty of the 
creatures, proportionably the maker of them 
is seen. 

6 But vet for this thev are the less to be 
blamed : for they peradventure err, seeking 
God, and desirous to find him. 

7 For being conversant in his works, they 
search /li^n diligently, and believe their sight : 
because the thin2:s are beautiful that are 
seen. 

8 Howbeit, neither are they to be par- 
doned. 

9 For if they were able to know so much, 
that thev could aim at the world ; how did 
thev not sooner find out the Lord thereof? 

■ lo But miserable are thev, and in dead 
things is their hope, who called them gods, 
which are the works of men's hands, gold 
and silver, to shew art in, and resemblances 
of beasts, or a stone good for nothing, the 
work of an ancient hand. 

II Now a carpenter that felleth timber, 
after he hath sawn down a tree meet for the 
purpose, and taken off all the bark skilfully 
round about, and hath wrought it handsomely, 
and made a vessel thereof fit for the service 
of man's life ; 



58 



2E{)e JUSistJom of Solomon, 



12 And after spending the refuse ^ of his 
work to dress his meat, hath filled himself; 

13 And taking the very refuse among 
those which served to no use, being a 
crooked piece of wood, and full of knots, 
hath carved it diligently, when he had 
nothing else to do, and formed it by the 
skill of his understanding, and fashioned it 
to the image of a man ; 

14 Or made it like some vile beast, laying 
it over with vermilion, and with paint col- 
ouring it red, and covering every spot 
therein ; 

15 And when he had made a convenient 
room for it, set it in a wall, and made it fast 
with iron : 

16 For he provided for it that it might not 
fall, knowing that it was unable to help it- 
self ; for it is an image, and hath need of 
help : 

17 Then maketh he prayer for his goods, 
for his wife and children, and is not ashamed 
to speak to that which hath no life. 

18 For health, he calleth upon that which 
is weak : for life, prayeth to that which is 
dead : for aid, humbly beseecheth that which 

^ Chips. 




3CIj£ OEistiom of Scilomon. 59 



hath least means to help : and for a good 
journey, he asketh of that which cannot set 
a foot forward : 

19 And for gaining and getting, and for 
good success of his hands, asketh ability to 
do of him, that is most unable to do any 
thing. 

CHAPTER XIV. 



AGAIN, one preparing himself to sail, 
and about to pass through the raging 
waves, calleth upon a piece of wood, more 
rotten than the vessel that carrieth him. 

2 For verily desire of gain devised that, 
and the workman built it bv his skill. 

3 But thy providence, O Father, govern- 
eth it : for thou hast made a way in the sea, 
and a safe path in the waves ; 

4 Shewing that thou canst save from all 
danger : yea, though a man w^ent to sea with- 
out art. 

5 Nevertheless thou wouldest not that 
the works of thy wisdom should be idle, and 
therefore do men commit their lives to a 
small piece of wood, and passing the rough 
sea in a weak vessel are saved. 



6o 2Ef)e ESEis'bom of Solomon* 

6 For in the old time also, when the proud 
giants perished, the hopq of the world, gov- 
erned by thy hand, escaped in a weak vessel, 
and left to all ages a seed of generation. 

7 For blessed is the wood whereby right- 
eousness Cometh. 

8 But that which is made with hands is 
cursed, as well it, as he that made it: he, 
because he made it ; and it, because being 
corruptible, it was called god. 

9 For the ungodly and his ungodliness are 
both alike hateful unto God. 

ID For that w^hich is made shall be pun- 
ished together with him that made it. 

11 Therefore even upon the idols of the 
Gentiles shall there be a visitation : because 
in the creature of God they are become an 
abomination, and stumbling blocks to the 
souls of men, and a snare to the feet of the 
unwise. 

12 For the devising of idols was the be- 
ginning of spiritual fornication, and the in- 
vention of them the corruption of life. 

13 For neither were they from the begin- 
ning, neither shall thev be for ever. 

14 For by the vain glory of men they en- 
tered into the world, and therefore shall they 
come shortly to an end. 



I 



I 




2rf)c 0!^Ii5l3am of Solomon. 6i 



15 For a father afflicted with untimely 
mourning, when he hath made an image of 
his child soon taken awav, now honoured 
him as a god, which w^as then a dead man, 
and delivered to those that were under him 
ceremonies and sacrifices. 

16 Thus in process of time an ungodly 
custom grown strong was kept as a law, and 
graven images were worshipped by the com- 
mandments of kings. 

17 Whom men could not honour in pres- 
ence, because thev dwelt far off, thev took 
the counterfeit of his visage from far, and 
made an express image of a king whom they 
honoured, to the end that bv this their for- 
wardness they might flatter him that was 

j absent, as if he were present. 

18 Also the singular diligence of the arti- 
ficer did help to set forward the ignorant 
to more superstition. 

19 For he, perad venture willing to please 
one in authority, forced all his skill to make 
the resemblance of the best fashion. 

20 And so the multitude, allured bv the 
j grace of the work, took him now for a god, 
I which a little before was but honoured as a 
I man. 



62 2rf)e OTlistJom of Solomcin. 

21 And this was an occasion to deceive 
the world : for men, serving either calamity 
or tyranny, did ascribe unto stones and 
stocks the incommunicable name. 

2 2 Moreover, this was not enough for 
them, that they erred in the knowledge of 
God ; but whereas they lived in the great 
war of ignorance, those so great plagues 
called they peace. 

23 For whilst they slew their children in 
sacrifices, or used secret ceremonies, or made 
revellings of strange rites ; 

24 They kept neither lives nor marriages 
any longer undefiled: but either one slew 
another traitorously, or grieved him by adul- 
tery. 

25 So that there reigned in all men with- 
out exception blood, manslaughter, theft, 
and dissimulation, corruption, unfaithful- 
ness, tumults, perjury, 

26 Disquieting of good men, forgetfulness 
of good turns, defiling of souls, changing 
of kind, disorder in marriages, adultery, and 
shameless uncleanness. 

27 For the worshipping of idols not tol 
be named is the beginning, the cause, andj 
the end, of all evil. 



3C{je EMfsticim of Solomon. 6;^ 

28 For either they are mad when they be 
merry, or prophesy lies, or live unjustly, or 
else lightly forswear themselves. 

29 For insomuch as their trust is in idols 
which have no life ; though they swear false- 
Iv, vet thev look not to be hurt. 

30 Howbeit for both causes shall they be 
justly punished : both because they thought 
not well of God, giving heed unto idols, and 
also unjustly swore in deceit, despising holi- 
ness. 

31 For it is not the power of them by 
whom they swear : but it is the just ven- 
geance of sinners, that punisheth always the 
offence of the ungodly. 

CHAPTER XV. 

BUT thou, O God, art gracious and true, 
long suffering, and in mercy ordering 
all things. 

2 For if we sin, we are thine, knowing thy 
1 power : but we will not sin, knowing that we 

are counted thine. 

3 For to know thee is perfect righteous- 
ness : yea, to know thy power is the root of 
immortality. 



64 Srije OUistiom of Solomom 

4 For neither did the mischievous inven- 
tion of men deceive us, nor an image spotted 
with divers colours, the painter's fruitless 
labour ; 

5 The sight whereof enticeth fools to lust 
after it, and so they desire the form of a dead 
image, that hath no breath. 

6 Both thev that make them, thev that de- 
sire them, and they that worship them, are 
lovers of evil things, and are worthy to have 
such things to trust upon. 

7 For the potter, tempering soft earth, 
fashioneth every vessel with much labour 
for our service : yea, of the same clay he 
maketh both the vessels that serve for clean 
uses, and likewise also all such as serve to 
the contrary : but what is the use of either 
sort, the potter himself is the judge. 

8 And employing his labours lewdly, he 
maketh a vain god of the same clay, even he 
which a little before was made of earth him- 
self, and within a little while after returneth 
to the same, out of the which he was taken, 
when his life which was lent him shall be 
demanded. 

9 Notwithstanding his care is, not that he 
shall have much labour, nor that his life is 



short : but striveth to excel goldsmiths and 
silversmiths, and endeavoureth to do like the 
workers in brass, and counteth it his glory 
to make counterfeit things. 

10 His heart is ashes, his hope is more 
vile than earth, and his life of less value 
than clay : 

11 Forasmuch as he knew not his IMaker, 
and him that inspired into him an active soul, 
and breathed in a living spirit. 

12 But they counted our life a pastime, 
and our time here a market for gain : for, 
say they, We must be getting every w^ay, 
thouMi it be bv evil means. 

13 For this man, that of earthly matter 
maketh brittle vessels and graven images, 
knoweth himself to offend above all others. 

14 And all the enemies of thy people, 
that hold them in subjection, are most foolish, 
and are more miserable than verv babes. 

15 For they counted all the idols of the 
heathen to be gods : which neither have the 

i use of eves to see, nor noses to draw breath, 
I nor ears to hear, nor fingers of hands to han- 
! die ; and as for their feet, they are slow to 



go- 



16 For man made them, and he that bor- 

5 



66 E\)z SJEistiom of Solomon, 

rowed his own spirit fashioned them : but 
no man can make a god like unto himself. 

17 For being mortal, he vvorketh a dead 
thing with wicked hands: for he himself is 
better than the things which he worshippeth : 
whereas he lived once, but they never. 

t8 Yea, they worshipped those beasts also 
that are most hateful : for being compared 
together, some are worse than others. 

19 Neither are they beautiful, so much as 
to be desired in respect of beasts : but they 
went without the praise of God and his bless- 
ing. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THEREFORE by the like were they 
punished worthily, and by the multi- 
tude of beasts tormented. 

2 Instead of which punishment, dealing 
graciously with thine own people, thou pre- 
paredst for them meat of a strange taste, 
even quails to stir up their appetite : 

3 To the end that they desiring food, 
might for the ugly sight of the beasts sent 
among them loathe even that, which they 
must needs desire ; but these, suffering pen- 



STfje Olistjom of Soloman* 67 

ury for a short space, might be made par- 
takers of a strange taste. 

4 For it was requisite, that upon them 
exercising tyranny should come penury, 
which thev could not avoid : but to these 
it should only be shewed how^ their enemies 
were tormented. 

5 For when the horrible fierceness of 
beasts came upon these, and they perished 
with the stings of crooked serpents, thy 
wrath endured not for ever : 

6 But thev were troubled for a small sea- 
son, that they might be admonished, having 
a sign of salvation, to put them in remem- 
brance of the commandment of thy law. 

7 For he that turned himself toward it 
was not saved by the thing that he saw, 
but by thee, that art the Saviour of all. 

8 And in this thou madest thine enemies 
confess, that it is thou who deliverest from 
all e^'il : 

9 For them the bitings of grasshoppers 
and flies killed, neither was there found any 
remedy for their life : for they were worthy 
to be punished by such. 

10 But thv sons not the verv teeth of ven- 
omous dragons overcame : for thy mercy \vas 
ever by them, and healed them. 



68 m)t OEfsticim of Solomon. 

1 1 For they were pricked, that they should 
remember thy words : and were quickly saved, 
that not falling into deep forgetfuiness, they 
might be continually mindful of thy good- 
ness. 

12 For it was neither herb, nor mollifying 
plaster that restored them to health : but thy 
word, O Lord, which healeth all things. 

13 For thou hast power of life and death : 
thou leadest to the gates of hell, and bring- 
est up again. 

14 A man indeed killeth through his mal- 
ice : and the spirit, when it is gone forth, 
returneth not ; neither the soul received up 
Cometh again. 

15 But it is not possible to escape thine 
hand. 

16 For the ungodly, that denied to know 
thee, were scourged by the strength of thine 
arm : with strange rains, hails, and showers, 
were they persecuted, that they could not 
avoid, and through fire were they consumed. 

17 For, which is most to be wondered at, 
the fire had more force in the water, that 
quencheth all things : for the world fighteth 
for the righteous. 

18 For sometime the flame was mitigated, 



2ri)£ OEistiom of Solomon* 69 

that it might not burn up the beasts that 
were sent aoainst the uno'odlv ; but them- 
selves might see and perceive that they were 
persecuted with the judgment of God. 

19 And at another time it burneth even 
in the midst of water above the powder of 
fire, that it might destroy the fruits of an 
unjust land. 

20 Instead whereof thou feddest thine own 
people with angels' food, and didst send them 
from heaven bread prepared without their 
labour, able to content every man's delight, 
and agreeing to every taste. 

21 For thy sustenance declared thy sweet- 
ness unto thy children, and serving to the ap- 
petite of the eater, tempered itself to every 
man's likino;. 

22 But snow and ice endured the fire, and 
melted not, that thev mio:ht know that fire 
burning in the hail, and sparkling in the 
rain, did destrov the fruits of the enemies. 

23 But this^again did even forget his own 
strength, that the righteous might be nour- 
ished. 

24 For the creature that serveth thee, who 
art the ]\Iaker, increaseth his strength against 
the unrighteous for their punishment, and 



70 2rf)e BJEistiom of Solamoiu 

abateth his strength for the benefit of such 
as put their trust in thee. 

25 Therefore even then was it altered in- 
to all fashioiiSj and was obedient to thy grace, 
that nourisheth all things, according to the 
desire of them that had need : 

26 That thy children, O Lord, whom thou 
lovest, might know, that it is not the grow- 
ing of fruits that nourisheth man : but that 
it is thy word, which preserveth them that 
put their trust in thee. 

27 For that which was not destroyed of 
the fire, being warmed with a little sunbeam, 
soon melted away : 

28 That it might be known, that we must 
prevent the sun to give thee thanks, and at 
the day-spring pray unto thee. 

29 For the hope of the unthankful shall 
melt away as the winter's hoar frost, and 
shall run away as unprofitable water. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FOR great are thy judgments, and cannot 
be expressed : therefore unnurtured 
souls have erred. 



5rf}e ESEisliom of Solomon. 71 

2 For when unrighteous men thought to 
oppress the holy nation ; they being shut up 
in their houses, the prisoners of darkness, 
and fettered with the bonds of a long night, 
lay [there] exiled from the eternal provi- 
dence. 

3 For while they supposed to lie hid in 
their secret sins, they were scattered under 
a dark veil of forgelfulness. being horribly 
astonished, and troubled with [strange] ap- 
paritions. 

4 For neither might the corner that held 
them keep them from fear : but noises [as 
of waters] falling down sounded about them, 
and sad visions appeared unto them with 
heavv countenances. 

5 No power of the fire might give them 
li"ht : neither could the brioht flames of the 
stars endure to li^'hten that horrible nio-ht. 

6 Only there appeared unto them a fire 
kindled of itself, verv dreadful : for beino: 
much terrified, they thought the things which 
they saw to be worse than the sight they 

saw not. / 

7 As for the illusions of art magick, they 
were put down, and their vaunting in wis- 
dom w^as reproved with disgrace. 



72 2r{)e JUEistiom of Solomon. 

8 For they, that promised to drive away 
terrors and troubles from a sick soul, were 
sick themselves of fear, worthy to be laughed 
at. 

9 For though no terrible thing did fear 
them ; yet being scared with beasts that 
passed by, and hissing of serpents, 

10 They died for fear, denying that 
they saw the air, which could of no side 
be avoided. 

11 For wickedness, condemned by her 
own witness, is very timorous, and being 
pressed with conscience, always forecasteth 
grievous things. 

12 For fear is nothing else but a betraying 
of the succours which reason offereth. 

13 And the expectation from within, being 
less, counteth the ignorance more than the 
cause which bringeth the torment. 

14 But they sleeping the same sleep that 
night, which was indeed intolerable, and 
which came upon them out of the bottoms 
of inevitable hell, 

15 Were partly vexed with monstrous ap- 
paritions, and partly fainted, their heart fail- 
ing them : for a sudden fear, and not looked 
for, came upon them. 



iE\)z HEistiom of Solomon* 73 

16 So then whosoever there fell clown was 
straitly kept, shut up in a prison without iron 
bars. 

17 For whether he were husbandman, or 
shepherd, or a labourer in the field, he was 
overtaken, and endured that necessity, which 
could not be avoided : for they were all bound 
with one chain of darkness. 

18 Whether it were a v/histling wind, or a 
melodious noise of birds among the spread- 
ing branches, or a pleasing fall of water run- 
ning violently, 

19 Or a terrible sound of stones cast down, 
or a running that could not be seen of skip- 
ping beasts, or a roaring voice of most sav- 
age wild beasts, or a rebounding echo from 
the hollow mountains ; these things made 
them to swoon for fear. 

20 For the whole world shined with clear 
light, and none were hindered in their la- 
bour : 

21 Over them only was spread an heavy 
night, an image of that darkness which 
should afterward receive them : but vet were 
they unto themselves more grievous than 
the darkness. 



74 ^Tlje OEistiom of Solomom 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

NEVERTHELESS thy saints had a very 
great light, whose voice they hearing, 
and not seeing their shape, because they 
also had not suffered the same things, they 
counted them happy. 

2 But for that they did not hurt them 7iozv^ 
of whom they had been wronged before, they 
thanked them, and besought them pardon for 
that they had been enemies. 

3 Instead whereof thou gavest them a 
burning pillar of fire, both to be a guide of 
the unknown journey, and an harmless sun 
to entertain them honourably. 

4 For they were worthy to be deprived 
of light and imprisoned in darkness, who 
had kept thy sons shut up, by whom the 
uncorrupt light of the law w^as to be given 
unto the world. 

5 And w^hen they had determined to slay 
the babes of the saints, one child being cast 
forth, and saved, to reprove them, thou took- 
est away the multitude of their children, 
and destroyedst them altogether in a mighty 
water. 



2rije OEistiom of Solomon^ 75 

6 Of that night were our fathers certified 
afore, that assuredly knowing unto what 
oaths they had given credence, they might 
afterward be of good cheer. 

7 So of thy people was accepted both the 
salvation of the righteous, and destruction 
of the enemies. 

8 For wherewith thou didst punish our 
adversaries, by the same thou didst glorify 
us, whom thou hadst called. * 

9 For the righteous children of good men 
did sacrifice secretlv, and with one consent 
made a holv law, that the saints should be 
like partakers of the same good and evil, the 
fathers now singing out the songs of praise. 

10 But on the other side there sounded 
an ill according cry of the enemies, and a 
lamentable noise was carried abroad for 
children that were bewailed. 

11 The master and the servant were pun- 
ished after one manner; and like as the 
king, so suffered the common pers-on. 

12 So they altogether had innumerable 
dead with one kind of death ; neither were 
the living sufBcient to bury them : for in one 
moment the noblest offspring of them was 
destroyed. 



I 



76 3rf)e OEi'stiom of Solomon^ 

13 For whereas they would not believe 
any thing by reason of the enchantments ; 
upon the destruction of the first-born, they 
acknowledged this people to be the sons of 
God. 

14 For while all things were in quiet si- 
lence, and that night was in the midst of her 
swift course, 

15 Thine Almighty word leaped down 
from heaven out of the royal throne, as a 
fierce man of war into the midst of a land 
of destruction, 

16 And brought thine unfeigned command- 
ment as a sharp sword, and standing up filled 
all things with death ; and it touched the 
heaven, but it stood upon the earth. 

17 Then suddenly visions of horrible 
dreams troubled them sore, and terrors 
came upon them unlooked for. 

18 And one thrown here, and another 
there, half dead, shewed the cause of his 
death. 

19 For the dreams that troubled them did 
foreshew^ this, lest they should perish, and 
not know why they were afflicted. 

20 Yea, the tasting of death touched the 
righteous also, and there was a destruction 



E^t OSistiom of Solomon. 77 

of the multitude in the wilderness : but the 
wrath endured not lono:. 

2 1 For then the blameless man made 
haste, and stood forth to defend them ; and 
bringing the shield of his proper ministry, 
even prayer, and the propitiation of incense, 
set himself against the wrath, and so brought 
the calamity to an end, declaring that he was 
thv servant. 

22 So he overcame the destrover, not 
with strength of body, nor force of arms, 
but with a word subdued he him that pun- 
ished, alleging the oaths and covenants made 
with the fathers. 

23 For when the dead were now^ fallen 
down by heaps one upon another, standing 
between, he stayed the wrath, and parted the 
wav to the livinpf. 

24 For in the long garment was the whole 
world, and in the four rows of the stones was 
the glory of the fathers graven, and thy Ma- 
jesty upon the diadem of his head. 

25 Unto these the destroyer gave place, 
and was afraid of them : for it was enough 

I that they only tasted of the wrath. 



78 a:fje Mlistiom of Solomon. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

As for the ungodly, wrath came upon 
them without mercv unto the end : 
for he knew before what they would do ; 

2 How that having given them leave to 
depart, and sent them hastily away, they 
would repent and pursue them. 

3 For whilst they were yet mourning and 
making lamentation at the graves of the 
dead, they added another foolish device, 
and pursued them as fugitives, whom they 
had entreated to be gone. 

4 For the destiny, whereof they were wor- 
thy, drew them unto this end, and made 
them foro^et the thino^s that had alreadv 
happened, that they might fulfil the punish- 
ment which was wanting to their torments : 

5 And that thy people might pass a won- 
derful way : but they might find a strange 
death. 

6 For the whole creature in his proper 
kind was fashioned again anew, serving the 
peculiar commandments that were given 
unto them, that thy children might be kept 
without hurt: 



^\}z OEfstJcm of Solomom 79 

7 As namely, a cloud shadowing the camp ; 
and where water stood before, dry land ap- 
peared ; and out of the Red Sea a w^ay with- 
out impediment ; and out of the violent 
stream a green field : 

8 Wherethrough all the people went that 
were defended with thy hand, seeing thy 
marvellous strange wonders. 

9 For they went at large like horses, and 
leaped like lambs, praising thee, O Lord, 
who hadst delivered them. 

10 For they were yet mindful of the things 
that were done while they sojourned in the 
strange land, how the ground brought forth 
flies instead of cattle, and how the river cast 
up a multitude of frogs instead of fishes. 

1 1 But afterward they saw a new genera- 
tion of fowls, w^hen, being led with their ap- 
petite, they asked delicate meats. 

12 For quails came up unto them from 
the sea, for their contentment. 

13 And punishments came upon the sin- 
ners not without former signs by the force 
of thunders : for they suffered justly accord- 
ing to their own wickedness, insomuch as 
they used a more hard and hateful beha- 
viour toward strangers. 



8o STfjE EJSistJom of Solomon. 

14 For the Sodo7?iites did not receive those, 
whom they knew not when they came : but 
these brought friends into bondage, that had 
well deserved of them. 

15 And not only so, but peradventure some 
respect shall be had of those, because they 
used strangers not friendly : 

16 But these very grievously afflicted them, 
whom they had received with feastings, and 
were already made partakers of the same 
laws with them. 

17 Therefore even with blindness were 
these stricken, as those were at the doors of 
the righteous man : when, being compassed 
about with horrible great darkness, every one 
sought the passage of his own doors. 

18 For the elements were changed in them- 
selves by a kind of harmony, like as in a 
psaltery notes change the name of the tune, 
and yet are always sounds ; which may well 
be perceived by the sight of the things that 
have been done. 

19 For earthly things w^ere turned into 
watery, and the things, that before swam in 
the water, now went upon the ground. 

20 The fire had power in the water, for- 
getting his own virtue ; and the water forgat 
his own quenching nature. 



^l)t JjHistiom of Solomou. 8i 

2 1 On the other side, the flames wasted 
not the flesh of the corruptible living things, 
thoLio^h thev walked therein ; neither melted 
thev the icv kind of heavenly meat, that was 
of nature apt to melt. 

2 2 For in all things, O Lord, thou didst 
magnify thy people, and glorify them, neither 
didst thou lightly regard them : but didst as- 
sist them in every time and place. 



I. !£ s ti r a s. 



"♦<>•- 



CHAPTER III. 

^yOW when Darius reigned, he made a 
^ great feast unto all his subjects, and 
unto all his household, and unto all the 
princes of Media and Persia, 

2 And to all the governors, and captains, 
and lieutenants, that were under him, from 
India unto Ethiopia, of an hundred twenty 
and seven provinces. 

3 And when they had eaten and drunken, 
and being satisfied were gone home, then 
Darius the king went into his bed-chamber, 
and slept, and soon after awaked. 

4 Then three young men that were of the 
guard that kept the king's body, spake one 
to another ; 

5 Let every one of us spenk a sentence: 
he that shall overcome, and whose sentence 
shall seem wiser than the others, unto him 



. I. Hstiras^ S^ 

I shall the king Darius give great gifts, and 
great things in token of victory : / 

1 6 As, to be clothed in purple, to drink in 
gold, and to sleep upon gold, and a chariot 
■ with bridles of gold, and an head-tire of fine 
: linen, and a chain about his neck : 
! 7 And he shall sit next to Darius, because 

i . . 

I of his wisdom, and shall be called Darius his 
cousin. 

8 And then every one wrote his sentence, 
sealed it, and laid it under king Darius his 
pillow ; 

9 x\nd said that, when the king is risen, 
some will give him the writings ; and of 
whose side the king and the three princes 
of Persia shall judge that his sentence is the 
wisest, to him shall the victory be given, as 
was appointed. 

10 I'he first wrote. Wine is the strongest. 

11 The second wrote, The king is the 
strongest. 

12 The third wrote. Women are strong- 
est: But above all things, Truth beareth 
away the victory. 

13 Now when the king was risen up, they 
took their w^ritings, and delivered them unto 
him, and so he read them : 



84 I. 3E0tiraj3» 

14 And sending forth he called all the 
princes of Persia and Media, and the gov- 
ernors, and the captains, and the lieutenants, 
and the chief officers ; 

15 And sat him down in the royal seat of 
judgment ; and the writings were read be- 
fore them. 

16 And he said, Call the young men, and 
they shall declare their own sentences. So 
they were called, and came in. 

17 And he said unto them. Declare un- 
to us your mind concerning the writings. 
Then began the first, who had spoken of the 
strength of wine ; 

18 And he said thus, O ye men, how ex- 
ceeding strong is wine ! it causeth all men 
to err that drink it : 

19 It maketh the mind of the king, and 
of the fatherless child, to be all one ; of the 
bondman and of the freeman, of the poor 
man and of the rich : 

20 It turneth also every thought into jol- 
lity and mirth, so that a man rememberetb 
neither sorrow nor debt : 

21 And it maketh every heart rich, so thai 
a man remembereth neither king nor gov- 
ernor ; and it maketh to speak all things b}| 
talents : 



I. lEstJras, 8s 

2 2 And when they are in their cups, they 
foro-et their love both to friends and breth- 
ren, and a little after draw out swords : 

23 But when they are from the wine, they 
remember not what they have done. 

24 O ye men, is not wdne the strongest, 
that enforceth to do thus ? And when he 
had so spoken^ he held his peace. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THEN the second, that had spoken of the 
strength of the king, began to say, 

2 O ye men. Do not men excel in strength, 
that bear rule over sea and land, and all 
things in them ? 

3 But yet the king is more mighty: for 
he is lord of all these things, and hath do- 
minion over them ; and whatsoever he com- 
mandeth them they do. 

4 If he bid them make war the one against 
the other, they do it : if he send them out 
against the enemies, they go and break down 
mountains, w^alls, and towers. 

5 They slay and are slain, and transgress 
not the king's commandment : if they get 



S6 I. lEsliras. 

the victory, they bring all to the king, as well 
the spoil, as all things else. 

6 Likewise for those that are no soldiers, 
and have not to do with wars, but use hus- 
bandry, when they have reaped again that 
which they had sown, they bring it to the 
king, and compel one another to pay tribute 
unto the king. 

7 And yet he is but one man : if he com- 
mand to kill, they kill ; if he command to 
spare, they spare ; 

8 If he connnand to smite, they smite ; 
if he command to make desolate, thev make 
desolate ; if he command to build, they build ; 

9 If he command to cut down, they cut 
down ; if he command to plant, they plant. 

ID So all his people and his armies obey 
him : furthermore, he lieth down, he eateth 
and drinketh, and taketh his rest : 

11 And these keep watch round about 
him, neither may any one depart, and do 
his own business, neither disobey they him 
in any thing. 

12 O ye men, How should not the king 
be mightiest, when in such sort he is obeyed ? 
And he held his tongue. 

13 Then the third, who had spoken of 



I. Extras. 87 

women, and of the truth (this was Zoroba- 
bel) began to speak. 

14 O ye men, it is not the great king, nor 
the multitude of men, neither is it wine that 
excelleth : Who is it then that ruleth them, 
or hath the lordship over them? Are they 
not women ? 

15 Women have borne the king and all 
the people that bear rule by sea and land. 

16 Even of them came they ; and they 
nourished them up that planted the vine- 
yards from whence the wine cometh. 

17 These also make garments for men ; 
these brino; 2:lorv unto men ; and without 
women cannot men be. 

18 Yea, and if men have pfathered tosfether 
gold and silver, or any other goodly thing, 
do they not love a woman which is comely 
in favour and beautv ? 

19 And letting all those things go, do they 
not gape, and even with open mouth fix their 
eves fast on her : and have not all men more 
desire unto her than unto silver or gold, or 
anv o:oodlv thino^ whatsoever .^^ 

20 A man leaveth his own father that 
brought him up, and his own country, and 
cleaveth unto his wife. 



88 I. lEstirag;* 

21 He sticketh not to spend his life with 
his wife, and remembereth neither father, nor 
mother, nor country. 

22 By this also ye must know that women 
have dominion over you : do ye not labour 
and toil, and give and bring all to the wo- 
man ? 

23 Yea, a man taketh his sword, and goeth 
his way to rob and to steal, to sail upon the 
sea and upon rivers ; 

24 And looketh upon a lion, and goeth 
in the darkness ; and when he hath stolen, 
spoiled, and robbed, he bringeth it to his 
love. 

25 Wherefore a man loveth his wife bet- 
ter than father or mother. 

26 Yea, many there be that have run out 
of their wits ^ for women, and become ser- 
vants for their sakes. 

27 Many also have perished, have erred, 
and sinned, for women. 

28 And now, do ye not believe me? Is 
not the king great in his power.'* Do not 
all regions fear to touch him ? 

29 Yet did I see him and Apame the king's 
concubine, the daughter of the admirable 

^ Or, grown desperate. 



I. Estiras. 89 

Bartacus, sitting at the right hand of the 
king, 

30 And taking the crown from the king's 
head, and setting it upon her own head : she 
also struck the king with her left hand. 

31 And yet for all this the king gaped 
and gazed upon her with open niouth : if she 
laughed upon him, he laughed also : but if 
she took any displeasure at him, the king 
was fain to flatter, that she might be recon- 
ciled to him ao:ain. 

32 O ye men, How can it be but women 
should be strong^, seeino: thev do thus? 

-^^ Then the king and the princes looked 
one upon another : so he began to speak of 
the truth. 

34 O ye men, are not women strong? 
Great is the earth, high is the heaven, swift 
is the sun in his course, for he compasseth 
the heavens round about, and fetcheth his 
course again to his own place in one day. 

35 Is he not great that maketh these 
things ? therefore great is the truth, and 
strono^er than all thino^s. 

36 All the earth calleth upon ^ the truth, 
and the heaven blesseth it : all works shake 

^ Or, praiseth. 



90 I. lEstJtas. 

and tremble at it ; and with it is no unright- 
eous thing. 

37 Wine is wicked, the king is wicked, 
women are wicked, all the children of men 
are wicked, and such are all their wicked 
works ; and there is no truth in them : in 
their unrighteousness also they shall perish. 

38 As for the truth, it endureth, and is 
always strong; it liveth and conquereth for 
evermore. 

39 With her there is no accepting of per- 
sons or rewards ; but she doeth the things 
that are just, and refraineth from all unjust 
and wicked things ; and all men do well 
like of her works. 

40 Neither in her judgment is any un- 
righteousness ; and she is the strength, king- 
dom, power, and majesty of all ages. Blessed 
be the God of truth. 

41 And with that he held his peace. And 
all the people then shouted, and said. Great 
is Truth, and mighty above all things. 

42 Then said the king unto him. Ask what 
thou wilt more than is appointed in the writ- 
ing, and we will give it thee, because thou 
art found wisest ; and thou shalt sit next me, 
and shalt be called my cousin. 



I. ISstiras, . 91 

43 Then said he unto the king, Remem- 
ber thy vow which thou hast vowed, to build 
Jerusalem, in the day when thou camest to 
thy kingdom, 

44 And to send away all the vessels that 
were taken awav out of Jerusalem, which 
Cyrus set apart, when he vowed to destroy 
Babylon, and to send them again thither. 

45 Thou also hast vowed to build up the 
temple, which the Edomites ^ burned, when 
Judea was made desolate by the Chaldees. 

46 And now, O lord the king, this is that 
which I require, and which I desire of thee, 
and this is the princely liberality proceeding 
from thvself : I desire therefore that thou 
make good the vow, the performance whereof 
with thine own mouth thou hast vowed to 
the King of heaven. 

47 Then Darius the king stood up and 
kissed him, and wrote letters for him unto 
all the treasurers, and lieutenants, and cap- 
tains, and governors, that they should safely 
convev on their wav both him, and all those 
that go up with him to build Jerusalem. 

48 He wrote letters also unto the lieuten- 
ants that were in Ceiosvria and Phenice, 

^ Ezekiel xxv. 12. 



92 ^ I. 3£stira0. 

and unto them in Libanus, that they should 
bring cedar wood from Libanus unto Jeru- 
salem, and that they should build the city 
with him. 

49 Moreover he wrote for all the Jews 
that went out of his realm up into Jewry, 
concerning their freedom, that no officer, no 
ruler, no lieutenant, nor treasurer, should 
forcibly enter into their doors ; 

50 And that all the country which they 
hold should be free without tribute ; and 
that the Edomites should give over the vil- 
lages of the Jews which then they held : 

51 Yea, that there should be yearly given 
twenty talents to the building of the temple, 
until the time that it were built ; 

52 And other ten talents yearly, to main- 
tain the burnt offerings upon the altar every 
day, as they had a commandment to offer 
seventeen : 

53 And that all they that went from Bab- 
ylon to build the city should have free lib- 
erty, as well they as their posterity, and all 
the priests that went away. 

54 He wrote also concerning the charges, 
and the priests' vestments wherein they min- 
ister ; 



I. lEstJras. 93 

55 And likewise for the charges of the 
Levites, to be given them, until the day that 
the house were finished, and Jerusalem 
builded up. 

56 And he commanded to give to all that 
kept the city pensions ^ and wages. 

57 He sent away also all the vessels from 
Babylon, that Cyrus had set apart ; and all 
that Cyrus had given in commandment, the 
same charged he also to be done, and sent 
unto Jerusalem. 

58 Now wdien this young man was gone 
forth, he lifted up his face to heaven, toward 
Jerusalem, and praised the King of heaven, 

59 And said. From thee cometh victory, 
from thee cometh wisdom, and thine is the 
glory, and I am thy servant. 

60 Blessed art thou, who hast given me 
wisdom : for to thee I give thanks, O Lord 
of our fathers. 

61 And so he took the letters, and went 
out, and came unto Babylon, and told it all 
his brethren. 

62 And they praised the God of their 
fathers, because he had given them free- 
dom and liberty 

^ Or, portions of land. 



94 I- iSstiras. 

6;^ To go up, and to build Jerusalem, and 
the temple which is called by his name : and 
they feasted with instruments of musick and 
gladness seven days. 



II. !£stiras. 



-•o*- 



CHAPTER I. 

Verses 24-40. ^ 

WHAT shall I do unto thee, O Jacob ? 
Thou, Juda, wouldest not obey me : 
I will turn me to other nations, and unto 
those will I give my name, that they may 
keep my statutes. 

Seeing ye have forsaken me, I will forsake 
you also ; when ye desire me to be gracious 
unto you, I shall have no mercy upon you. 

Whensoever ye shall call upon me, I will 
not hear you : for ye have defiled your hands 
with blood, and your feet are swift to com- 
mit manslaughter. 

Ye have not as it were forsaken me, but 
your own selves, saith the Lord. 

Thus saith the Almighty Lord, Have I 
not prayed you as a father his sons, as a 

' The first and second chapters of this book are sup- 
posed to be interpolations by some unknown Christian hand. 



96 II. JEstiras* 

mother her daughters, and a nurse her young 
babes, 

That ye would be my people, and I should 
be your God ; that ye would be my children, 
and I should be your father ? 

I gathered you together, as a hen gather- 
eth her chickens under her wings : but now, 
what shall I do unto you? I will cast you 
out from my face. 

When ye offer unto me, I will turn my 
face from you : for your solemn feast days, 
your new moons, and your circumcisions, 
have I forsaken. 

I sent unto you my servants the prophets, 
whom ye have taken and slain, and torn their 
bodies in pieces, whose blood I will require 
of your hands, saith the Lord. 

Thus saith the Almighty Lord, Your house 
is desolate, I will cast you out as the wind 
doth stubble. 

And your children shall not be fruitful ; 
for they have despised my commandment, 
and done the thing that is evil before me. 

Your houses will I give to a people that 
shall come ; which not having heard of me 
yet shall believe me : to whom I have shewed 
no signs, yet they shall do that I have com- 
manded them. 



II. lEsliras. 97 

They have seen no prophets, yet they shall 
call their sins to remembrance, and acknowl- 
edge them. 

I take to witness the grace of the people 
to come, whose little ones rejoice in glad- 
ness : and though they have not seen me 
with bodily eyes, yet in spirit they believe 
the thing that I say. 

And now, brother, behold what glory ; and 
see the people that come from the east : 

Unto whom I will give fpr leaders, Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob, Oseas, Amos, and 
Micheas, Joel, Abdias, and Jonas, 

Nahum, and Abacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, 
Zachary, and Malachy, which is called also 
an angel of the Lord. 

CHAPTER II. 

Verses 14, 20, 21, 33-48. 

TAKE heaven and earth to witness ; for 
I have broken the evil in pieces, and 
created the good : for I live, saith the Lord. 
Do right to the widow, judge for the father- 
less, give to the poor, defend the orphan, 
clothe the naked, 

7 



98 II. lEstirag. 

Heal the broken and the weak, laugh not 
a lame man to scorn, defend the maimed, 
and let the blind man come into the sight 
of my clearness. 

I Esdras received a charge of the Lord 
upon the mount Oreb, that I should go unto 
Israel ; but when I came unto them, they set 
me at nought, and despised the command- 
ment of the Lord. 

And therefore I say unto you, O ye 
heathen, that hear and understand. Look 
for your Shepherd, he shall give you ever- 
lasting rest ; for he is nigh at hand, that 
shall come in the end of the world. 

Be ready to the reward of the kingdom, 
for the everlasting light shall shine upon you 
for evermore. 

Flee the shadov^^ of this world, receive the 
joyfulness of your glory : I testify my Saviour 
openly. 

O receive the gift that is given you, and 
be glad, giving thanks unto him that hath 
called you to the heavenly kingdom. 

Arise up and stand, behold the number 
of those that be sealed in the feast of the 
Lord ; 

Which are departed from the shadow of 



II. lEstiras, 99 

the world, and have received glorious gar- 
ments of the Lord. 

Take thy number, O Sion, and shut up 
those of thine that are clothed in white, 
which have fulfilled the law of the Lord. 

The number of thy children whom thou 
longedst for, is fulfilled : beseech the power 
of the Lord, that thy people, which have 
been called from the beginning, may be 
hallowed. 

I Esdras saw upon the mount Sion a great 
people, whom I could not number, and they 
all praised the Lord wdth songs. 

And in the midst of them there was a 
young man of an high stature, taller than 
all the rest, and upon every one of their 
heads he set crowns, and was more ex- 
alted ; which I marvelled at greatly. 

So I asked the angel, and said, Sir, what 
are these ? 

He answered, and said unto me. These 
be they that have put off the mortal cloth- 
ing, and put on the immortal, and have 
confessed the name of God : now are they 
crowned, and receive palms. 

Then said I unto the angel, What young 
person is it that crowneth them, and giveth 
them palms in their hands? 



L 



loo II. lEstiras, 

So he answered, and said unto me, It is 
the Son of God, whom they have confessed 
in the world. Then began I greatly to com- 
mend them that stood so stiffly for the name 
of the Lord. 

Then the angel said unto me, Go thy 
way, and tell my people what manner of 
things, and how great wonders of the Lord 
thy God thou hast seen. 

CHAPTER V. 
Verses 20-33. 

AND so I fasted seven days, mourning 
and weeping, like as 'Uriel the angel 
commanded me. 

And after seven days so it was, that the 
thoughts of my heart were very grievous 
unto me again. 

And my soul recovered the spirit of un- 
derstanding, and I began to talk with the 
Most High again, 

And said, O Lord that bearest rule, of 
every wood of the earth, and of all the trees 
thereof, thou hast chosen thee one only vine : 

And of all lands of the whole world thou 



II. lEstiras. loi 

hast chosen thee one pit : and of all the 
flowers thereof one lily: 

And of all the depths of the sea thou hast 
filled thee one river : and of all builded cities 
thou hast hallowed Sion unto thyself: 

And of all the fowls that are created thou 
hast named thee one dove: and of all the 
cattle that are made thou hast provided thee 
one sheep : 

And among all the multitudes of people 
thou hast gotten thee one people : and unto 
this people, whom thou lovedst, thou gavest 
a law that is approved of all. 

And now, O Lord, why hast thou given 
this one people over unto many ? And upon 
the one root hast thou prepared others, and 
why hast thou scattered thy only one peo- 
ple among many ? 

And they which did gainsay thy prom- 
ises, and believed not thy covenants, have 
trodden them down. 

If thou didst so much hate thy people, 
yet shouldest thou punish them with thine 
own hands. 

Now when I had spoken these words, the 
angel that came to me the night afore was 
sent unto me. 



I02 II. lEgtirag, 

And said unto me, Hear me, and I will 
instruct thee ; hearken to the thing that I 
say, and I shall tell thee more. 

And I said. Speak on, my Lord. Then 
said he unto me. Thou art sore troubled in 
mind for Israel's sake : lovest thou that peo- 
ple better than he that made them? 

CHAPTER VI. 
Verses i-6. 

AND he said unto me. In the beginning, 
when the earth was made, before the 
borders of the world stood, or ever the winds 
blew, 

Before it thundered and lightened, or ever 
the foundations of paradise were laid. 

Before the fair flowers were seen, or ever 
the moveable powers were established, be- 
fore the innumerable multitude of angels 
were gathered together, 

Or ever the heights of the air were lifted 
up, before the measures of the firmament 
were named, or ever the chimneys in Sion 
were hot, 

And ere the present years were sought 



II. lEstiras. 103 

out, and or ever the inventions of them that 
now sin were turned, before thev were sealed 
that have gathered faith for a treasure : . 

Then did I consider these things, and they 
all were made through me alone, and through 
none other: by me also they shall be ended, 
and bv none other. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Verses 49-70. 

FOR what profit is it unto us, if there 
be promised us an immortal time, 
whereas we have done the works that 
bring death } 

And that there is promised us an everlast- 
ing hope, whereas ourselves being most 
wicked are made vain? 

And that there are laid up for us dwell- 
ings of health and safety, whereas we have 
lived wickedly } 

And that the glory of the ^lost High is 
kept to defend them which have led a wary^ 
life, whereas we have walked in the most 
wicked ways of all ? 

^ Chaste. 



I04 11. Estiras. 

And that there should be shewed a para- 
dise, whose fruit endureth for ever, wherein 
is security and medicine, since we shall not 
enter into it ? 

(For we have walked in unpleasant 
places.) 

And that the faces of them which have 
used abstinence shall shine above the stars, 
whereas our faces shall be blacker than 
darkness ? 

For while we lived and committed in- 
iquity, we considered not that we should 
begin to suffer for it after death. 

Then answered he me, and said, This is 
the condition -^ of the battle which man that 
is born upon the earth shall fight ; 

That, if he be overcome, he shall suffer as 
thou hast said : but if he get the victory, he 
shall receive the thing that I say. 

For this is the life whereof Moses spakel 
unto the people while he lived, saying,[ 
Choose thee life, that thou mayest live. 

Nevertheless they believed not him, noi] 
yet the prophets after him, no, nor mi 
which have spoken unto them. 

That there should not be such heaviness! 

' Intent. 



II. lEstiras. 105 

in their destruction, as shall be joy over 
them that are persuaded to salvation. 

I answered then, and said, I know, Lord, 
that the Most High is called merciful, in 
that he hath mercy upon them which are 
not vet come into the world, 

And upon those also that turn to his law ; 

And that he is patient, and long suffereth 
those that have sinned, as his creatures; 

And that he is bountiful, for he is ready 
to give where it needeth ; 

And that he is of great mercy, for he 
multiplieth more and more mercies to them 
that are present, and that are past, and also 
to them which are to come. 

For if he shall not multiply his mercies, 
the world would not continue with them 
that inherit therein. 

And he pardoneth ; for if he did not so of 
his goodness, that they which have com- 
mitted iniquities might be eased of them, 
the ten-thousandth part of men should not 
remain living. 

And being judge, if he should not forgive 
them that are cured ^ with his word, and 
put out the multitude of contentions, 

^ Created. 



io6 II. 3E0"bra0. 

There should be very few left perad ven- 
ture in an innumerable multitude. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Verses 20-24, 45-47' 

OLORD, thou that dwellest in ever- 
lastingness, which beholdest from 
above things in the heaven and in the air ; 

Whose throne is inestimable ; whose 
glory may not be comprehended ; before 
whom the hosts of angels stand with trem- 
bling, 

Whose service is conversant in wind 
and fire; whose word is true, and sayings 
constant ; whose commandment is strong, 
and ordinance fearful ; 

Whose look drieth up the depths, and in- 
dignation maketh the mountains to melt 
awav ; which the truth witnesseth : 

O hear the prayer of thy servant, and give 
ear to the petition of thy creature. 

Be not wroth with us, but spare thy 
people, and have mercy upon thine own in- 
heritance : for thou art merciful unto thy 
creature. 



II. lEstiras. 107 

Then answered he me, and said, Things 
present are for the present, and things to 
come for such as be to come. 

For thou comest far short that thou 
shouldest be able to love my creature more 
than I : but I have oft times drawn nigh 
unto thee, and unto it, but never to the un- 
righteous. 



. CHAPTER XII. 

Verses 46, 47. 

BE of good comfort, O Israel, and be not 
heavy, thou house of Jacob. 
For the Highest hath you in remem- 
brance, and the Mighty hath not forgotten 
you in temptation. 



K oh it 



CHAPTER IV. 



Verses 5-1 i, 14-19. 

MY son, be mindful of the Lord our 
God all thy days, and let not thy 
will be set to sin, or to transgress his com- 
mandments : do uprightly all thy life long, 
and follow not the ways of unrighteous- 
ness. 

For if thou deal truly, thy doings shall 
prosperously succeed to thee, and to all 
them that live justly. 

Give alms of thy substance ; and when 
thou givest alms, let not thine eye be en- 
vious, neither turn thy face- from any poor, 

and the face of God shall not be turned 
away from thee. 

If thou hast abundance, give alms ac-l 

cordingly : if thou have but a little, be not] 

afraid to give according to that little : 



SToIiit 109 

For thou layest up a good treasure for 
thyself against the clay of necessit}^ 

Because that alms do deliver from death, 
and suffereth not to come into darkness. 

For alms is a good gift unto all that give 
it in the sight of the ]\Iost Hig-h. 

Let not the wages of any man, which 
hath wrought for thee, tarry with thee, but 
2:ive him it out of hand : for if thou serve 
God, he will also repay thee : be circum- 
spect, my son, in all things thou doest, and 
be wise in all thy conversation. 

Do that to no man which thou hatest : 
drink not wine to make thee drunken : nei- 
ther let drunkenness go with thee in thy 
journey. 

Give of thv bread to the huno^rv, and of 
thy garments to them that are naked ; and 
according to thine abundance give alms ; and 
let not thine eye be envious, when thou 
givest alms. 

Pour out thv bread on the burial of the 
just, but give nothing to the wicked. 

Ask counsel of all that are wise, and de- 
spise not any counsel that is profitable. 

Bless the Lord thy God alway, and desire 
of him that thy ways may be directed, and 



no Eoiit 

that all thy paths and counsels may pros- 
per : for every nation hath not counsel ; but 
the Lord himself giveth all good things, and 
he humbleth whom he will, as he will ; now 
therefore, my son, remember my command- 
ments, neither let them be put out of thy 
mind. 



CHAPTER XII. 
Verses 6-io. 

THEN he [Raphael] took them both 
apart, and said unto them, Bless 
God, praise him, and magnify him, and 
praise him for the things which he hath done 
unto you in the sight of all that live. It is 
good to praise God, and exalt his name, and 
honorably to shew forth the works of God ; 
therefore be not slack to praise him. 

It is good to keep close the secret of a 
king, but it is honorable to reveal the works 
of God. Do that which is good, and no 
evil shall touch you. 

Prayer is good with fasting and alms and! 
righteousness. A little with righteousnessi 
is better than much with unrighteousness. 



^oiit 1 1 1 

It is better to give alms than to lay up 
gold. 

For alms doth deliver from death, and 
shall purge away all sin. Those that exer- 
cise alms and righteousness shall be filled 
with life : 

But they that sin are enemies to their 
own life. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THEN Tobit wTote a prayer of rejoicing, 
and said, Blessed be God that liveth 
forever, and blessed be his kingdom. 

For he doth scourge, and hath mercy: he 
leadeth down to hell, and bringeth up again : 
neither is there any that can avoid his hand. 

Confess him before the Gentiles, ye chil- 
dren of Israel : for he hath scattered us 
among them. 

There declare his greatness, and extol 
him before all the living : for he is our 
Lord, and he is the God our Father for ever. 

And he will scourge us for our iniquities, 
and will have mercy again, and will gather 
us out of all nations, among whom he hath 
scattered us. 



112 EohiL 

If ye turn to him with your whole heart, 
and with your whole mind, and deal up- 
rightly before him, then will he turn unto 
you, and will not hide his face from you. 
Therefore see what he will do with you, and 
confess him with your w^hole mouth, and 
praise the Lord of might, and extol the 
everlasting King. In the land of my cap- 
tivity do I praise him, and declare his might 
and majesty to a sinful nation. O ye sin- 
ners, turn and do justice before him : who 
can tell if he will accept you, and have 
mercy on you? 

I will extol my God, and my soul shall 
praise the King of heaven, and shall rejoice 
in his greatness. 

Let all men speak, and let all praise him 
for /lis righteousness. 

O Jerusalem, the holy city, he will scourge 
thee for thy children's works, and will have 
mercy again on the sons of the righteous. 

Give praise to the Lord, /or he is good : 
and praise the everlasting King, that his 
tabernacle may be builded in thee again 
with joy, and let him make joyful there in 
thee those that ^e captives, and love in 
thee for ever those that are miserable. 



Zolit 113 

]\Ianv nations shall come from far to the 
name of the Lord God with gifts in their 
hands, even gifts to the King of heaven ; all 
generations shall praise thee with great 
joy. 

Cursed are all they which hate thee, and 
blessed shall all be which love thee for ever. 

Rejoice and be glad for the children of 
the just : for they shall be gathered to- 
gether, and shall bless the Lord of the just. 

O blessed are they which love thee, for 
they shall rejoice in thy peace : blessed are 
thev which have been sorrowful for all thv 
scourges ; for they shall rejoice for thee, 
when thev have seen all thv p-lorv, and shall 
be glad for ever. 

Let mv soul bless God the o:reat Kins:. 

For Jerusalem shall be built up with 
sapphires, and emeralds, and precious 
stone : thy walls, and towers, and battle- 
ments, with pure gold. 

And the streets of Jerusalem shall be 
paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones 
of Ophir. 

And all her streets shall say. Alleluia ; 
and they shall praise him, saying. Blessed 
be God, which hath extolled it for ever. 

8 



B a r u c f}* 



-♦o»- 



CHAPTER III. 
Verses 1-15, 29-35. 

OLORD Almighty, God of Israel, the 
soul in anguish, the troubled spirit, 
crieth unto thee. 

Hear, O Lord, and have mercy ; for thou 
art merciful : and have pity upon us, be- 
cause we have sinned before thee. 

For thou endurest for ever, and we perish 
utterly. 

O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, 
hear now the prayers of the dead Israelites, 
and of their children, which have sinned 
before thee, and not hearkened unto the 
voice of thee their God: for the which 
cause these plagues cleave unto us. 

Remember not the iniquities of our fore- 
fathers : but think upon thy power and thy 
name now at this time. 



13aruc]^. 115 

For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, 
O Lord, will we praise. 

And for this cause thou hast put thy fear 
in our hearts, to the intent that we should 
call upon thy name, and praise thee in our 
li captivity : for we have called to mind all 
the iniquity of our forefathers, that sinned 
before thee. 

« 

Behold, we are yet this day in our cap- 
tivity, where thou hast scattered us, for a re- 
proach and a curse, and to be subject to 
payments, according to all the iniquities of 
our fathers, which departed from the Lord 
our God. 

Hear, Israel, the commandments of life: 
give ear to understand wdsdom. 

How happeneth it, Israel, that thou art in 
thine enemies' land, that thou art waxen old 
in a strange country, that thou art defiled 
with the dead, 

That thou art counted with them that 2:0 
down into the grave ? 

Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wds- 
dom. 

For if thou hadst walked in the w^ay of 
God, thou shouldest have dwelled in peace 
for ever. 



ii6 tSaruc]^* 

Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, 
where is understanding; that thou mayest 
know also where is length of days, and life, 
where is the light of the eyes, and peace. 

Who hath found out her place? or who 
hath come into her treasures? 

Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken 
her, and brought her down from the clouds? 

Who hath gone over the sea, and found 
her, and will bring her for pure gold? 

No man knoweth her way, or thinketh of 
her path. 

But he that knoweth all things knoweth 
her, and hath found her out with his under- 
standing; he that prepared the earth for 
evermore hath filled it with four-footed 
beasts : 

He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth, 
calleth it again, and it obeyeth him with 
fear. 

The stars shined in their watches, and 
rejoiced: when he calleth them, they say. 
Here we be ; and so with cheerfulness they 
shewed light unto him that made them. 

This is our God, and there shall none 
other be accounted of in comparison of 
him. 



JSacucJj. 117 



CHAPTER IV. 
Verses 4, 21, 22, 27-29. 

O ISRAEL, happy are we : for things 
that are pleasing to God are made 
known unto us. 

Be of good cheer, O my children, cry 
unto the Lord, and he shall deliver vou 
from the power and hand of the enemies. 

For my hope is in the Everlasting, that 
he will save you ; and joy is come unto me 
from the Holy One, because of the mercy 
which shall soon come unto you from the 
Everlasting our Saviour. 

Be of good comfort, O my children, ancj 
crv unto God : for ve shall be remembered 
of him that brought these things upon you. 

For as it was your mind to go astray from 
God : so, being returned, seek him ten times 
more. 

For he that hath brought these plagues 
upon you shall bring you everlasting joy 
again with your salvation. 



THE 



SSqvlq of tfje €\)m II0I2 Sf)iHiren. 



-•o^ 



Verses i, 23-68. 

AND they walked in the midst of the 
fire, praising God, and blessing the 
Lord. 

And the king's servants, that put them in, 
ceased not to make the oven hot with rosin, 
pitch, tow, and small wood ; 

So that the flame streamed forth above 
the furnace forty and nine cubits. 

And it passed through, and burned those 
Chaldeans it found about the furnace. 

But the angel of the Lord came down 
into the oven together with Azarias and his 
fellows, and smote the flame of the fire 
out of the oven ; 

And made the midst of the furnace as if 
it had been a moist ^ whistling wind, so that 
the fire touched them not at all, neither 
hurt nor troubled them. 

^ Or, cool. 



E\)xn ?^oIg Cljilliren* 



IK 



Then the three, as out of one mouth, 
praised, glorilied, and blessed God in the 
furnace, saying, 

Blessed art thou, O Lord God of our 
fathers : and to be praised and exalted above 
all for ever. 

And blessed is thy glorious and holy 
name : and to be praised and exalted above 
all for ever. 

Blessed art thou in the temple of thine 
holy glory : and to be praised and glorified 
above all for ever. 

Blessed art thou that beholdest the depths, 
and sittest upon the cherubims : and to be 
praised and exalted above all for ever. 

Blessed art thou on the glorious throne of 
thy kingdom : and to be praised and glori- 
fied above all for ever. 

Blessed art thou in the firmament of 
heaven : and above all to be praised and 
glorified for ever. 

O all ve works of the Lord, bless ve the 
Lord : praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 

O ye heavens, bless ye the Lord : praise 
and exalt him above all for ever. 

O ye angels of the Lord, bless ye the 



I20 Song of tfje 

Lord : praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 

O all ye waters that be above the heaven, 
bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him 
above all for ever. 

O all ye powers of the Lord, bless ye the 
Lord : praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 

O ye sun and moon, bless ye the Lord : 
praise and exalt him above all for ever. 

O ye stars of heaven, bless ye the Lord : 
praise and exalt him above all for ever. 

O every shower and dew, bless ye the 
Lord : praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 

O all ye winds, bless ye the Lord : praise 
and exalt him above all for ever. 

O ye fire and heat, bless ye the Lord : 
praise and exalt him above all for ever. 

O ye winter and summer, bless ye the 
Lord : praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 

O ye dews and storms of snow, bless ye 
the Lord : praise and exalt him above all 
for ever. 

O ye nights and days, bless ye the Lord : 
praise and exalt him above all for ever. 



Ojrce ?i^clg Cfjiltiren, 12 1 

O ye light and darkness, bless ye the 
Lord: praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 

O ve ice and cold, bless ve the Lord : 
praise and exalt him above all for e\Tr. 

O ve frost and snow, bless ve the Lord : 
praise and exalt him above all for ever. 

O ve lio^htninors and clouds, bless ve the 
Lord : praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 

O let the earth bless the Lord : praise 
and exalt him above all for ever. 

O ve mountains and little hills, bless ve 
the Lord : praise and exalt him above all 
for ever. 

O all ye things that grow on the earth, 
bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him 
above all for ever. 

O ye fountains, bless ye the Lord: praise 
and exalt him above all for ever. 

O ye seas and rivers, bless ye the Lord : 
praise and exalt him above all for ever. 

O ve whales, and all that move in the 
waters, bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt 
him above all for ever. 

O all ye fowls of the air, bless ye the 
Lord : praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 



122 Sottg of tlje 

O all ye beasts and cattle, bless ye the 
Lord : praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 

O ye children of men, bless ye the Lord : 
praise and exalt him above all for ever. 

O Israel, bless ye the Lord: praise and 
exalt him above all for ever. 

O ye priests of the Lord, bless ye the 
Lord : praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 

O ye servants of the Lord, bless ye the 
Lord : praise and exalt him above all for 
ever. 

O ye spirits and souls of the righteous, 
bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him 
above all for ever. 

O ye holy and humble men of heart, bless 
ye the Lord : praise and exalt him above all 
for ever. 

O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye 
the Lord : praise and exalt him above all 
for ever : for he hath delivered us from 
hell,-^ and saved us from the hand of death, 
and delivered us out of the midst of the 
furnace and burning flame : even out of the 
midst of the fire hath he delivered us. 

' Or, the grave. 



CJ3ree J^olg Cj^iltiren. 123 

O give thanks unto the Lord, because he 
is gracious : for his mercy eiidureth for ever. 

O all ye that worship the Lord, bless the 
God of gods, praise him, and give him 
thanks : for his mercy e?idureth for ever. 



Ef)e Pragcr of JSanasses, 

King of Judah, 
When he was holden captive i7i Babyloti, 



-♦o^ 



OLORD, Almighty God of our fathers, 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of 
their righteous seed ; who hast made heaven 
and earth, with all the ornament thereof ; 
who hast bound the sea by the word of thy 
commandment ; who hast shut up the deep, 
and sealed it by thy terrible and glorious 
name ; whom all men fear, and tremble 
before thy power ; for the majesty of thy 
glory cannot be borne, and thine angry 
threatening toward sinners is importable: 
but thy merciful promise is unmeasurable 
and unsearchable ; for thou art the most 
high Lord, of great compassion, long suf- 
fering, very merciful, and repentest of the 
evils of men. Thou, O Lord, according to 
thy great goodness hast promised repent- 
ance and forgiveness to them that have 



2C{)e Prager of fflanasse^. 125 

sinned against thee: and of thine infinite 
mercies hast appointed repentance unto sin- 
ners, that thev mav be saved. Thou there- 
fore, O Lord, that art the God of the just, 
hast not appointed repentance to the just, 
as to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, which 
have not sinned against thee ; but thou hast 
appointed repentance unto me that am a 
sinner : for I have sinned above the number 
of the sands of the sea. My transgressions, 
O Lord, are multiplied : my transgressions 
are multiplied, and I am not worthy to be- 
hold and see the height of heaven for the 
multitude of mine iniquities. I am bowed 
down with manv iron bands, that I cannot 
lift up mine head, neither have any release : 
for I have provoked thy wrath, and done 
evil before thee : I did not thy will, neither 
kept I thy commandments: I have set up 
abominations, and have multiplied offences. 
Now therefore I bow the knee of mine 
heart, beseeching thee of grace. I have 
sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I ac- 
knowledge mine iniquities : wherefore I 
humbly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, 
forgive me, and destroy me not with mine 
iniquities. Be not angry with me for ever, 



126 STj^e Prager of fflanasgeg* 

by reserving evil for me ; neither condemn 
me into the lower parts of the earth. For 
thou art the God, even the God of them that 
repent ; and in me thou wilt shew all thy 
goodness ; for thou wilt save me, that am 
unworthy, according to thy great mercy. 
Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the 
days of my life: for all the powers of the 
heavens do praise thee, and thine is the 
glory for ever and ever. Amen, 



I. JHaccaticcs. 



-♦o*- 



CHAPTER VIII. 

NOW Judas [Maccabeus] had heard of 
the fame of the Romans, that they 
were mighty and valiant men, and such as 
would lovingly accept all that joined them- 
selves unto them, and make a league of 
amitv with all that came unto them ; 

2 And that they were men of great valour. 
It was told him also of their wars and noble 
acts which they had done among the Gala- 
tians,^ and how they had conquered them, 
and brought them under tribute ; 

3 And what they had done in the country 
of Spain, for the winning of the mines of 
silver and gold which is there ; 

4 And that by their policy and patience 
they had conquered all the place,^ though 
it were very far from them ; and the kings 

^ Or, Frenchmen. ^ Or, every place. 



128 I. JJlaccaliees. 

also that came against them from the utter- 
most part of the earth, till they had dis- 
comfited them, and given them a great 
overthrow, so that the rest did give them 
tribute every year : 

5 Beside this, how they had discomfited 
in battle Philip, and Perseus, king of the 
Citims,^ with others that lifted up them- 
selves against them, and had overcome 
them : 

6 How also Antiochus, the great king of 
Asia, that came against them in battle, hav- 
ing an hundred and twenty elephants, with 
horsemen, and chariots, and a very great 
army, was discomfited by them ; 

7 And how they took him alive, and cov- 
enanted that he, and such as reigned after 
him, should pay a great tribute, and give 
hostages, and that which was agreed upon, 

8 And the country of India, and Media, 
and Lydia, and of the goodliest countries, 
which they took of him, and gave to king 
Eumenes : 

9 Moreover, how the Grecians had deter- 
mined to come and destroy them ; 

•10 And that they, having knowledge 

* Or, Macedonians. 



I. JWaccabeeg* 129 

thereof, sent against them a certain captain, 
and fighting with them slew many of them, 
and carried away captives their wives and 
their children, and spoiled them, and took 
possession of their lands, and pulled down 
their strong holds, and brought them to be 
their servants unto this day: 

11 It was told him besides, how thev de- 
stroyed and brought under their dominion 
all other kingdoms and isles that at any 
time resisted them ; 

12 But with their friends and such as re- 
lied upon them they kept amity: and that 
they had conquered kingdoms both far and 
nigh, insomuch as all that heard of their 
name were afraid of them : 

13 Also that, whom they would help to a 
kingdom, those reign ; and whom again 
they would, they displace : finally, that they 
were greatly exalted : 

14 Yet for all this none of them wore a 
crown, or was clothed in purple, to be mag- 
nified thereby : 

15 Moreover, how they had made for 
themselves a senate house, wherein three 
hundred and twenty men sat in counsel 

9 



130 I. JHarcabeejj, 

daily, consulting alway for the people, to 
the end they might be well ordered : 

16 And that they committed their govern- 
ment to one man every year, who ruled over 
all their country, and that all were obedient 
to that one, and that there was neither envy 
nor emulation among them. 

17 In consideration of these things, Judas 
chose Eupolemus the son of John, the son 
of Accos, and Jason the son of Eleazar, and 
sent them to Rome, to make a league of 
amity and confederacy with them, 

18 Afid to entreat them that they would 
take the yoke from them ; for they saw that 
the kingdom of the Grecians did oppress 
Israel with servitude. 

19 The}^ went therefore to Rome, which 
was a very great journey, and came into the 
senate, where they spake and said, 

20 Judas Maccabeus with his brethren, 
and the people of the Jews, have sent us 
unto you, to make a confederacy and peace 
with you, and that we might be registered 
your confederates and friends. 

21 So that matter pleased the Romans 
well. 

22 And this is the copy of the epistle 



I. i!Haccabet0» 131 

which the senate wrote back again on tables 
of brass, and sent to Jerusalem, that there 
they might have by them a memorial of 
peace and confederacy : 

23 Good success be to the Romans, and 
to the people of the Jews, by sea and by 
land for ever: the sword also and enemy 
be far from them. 

24 If there come first any war upon the 
Romans or anv of their confederates through- 
out all their dominion, 

25 The people of the Jews shall help 
them, as the time shall be appointed, with 
all their heart : 

26 Neither shall they give any thing unto 
them that make war upon them, or aid them 
with victuals, weapons, money, or ships, as 
it hath seemed good unto the Romans ; but 
they shall keep their covenants without tak- 
ing any thing therefore. 

27 In the same manner also, if war come 
first upon the nation of the Jews, the Ro- 
mans shall help them with all their heart, 
according as the time shall be appointed 
them : 

28 Neither shall victuals be given to them 
that take part against them, or weapons, or 



132 I. iHaccabees. 

'money, or ships, as it hath seemed good to 
the Romans ; but they shall keep their cov- 
enants, and that without deceit. 

29 According to these articles did the 
Romans make a covenant with the people 
of the Jews. 

30 Howbeit if hereafter the one party or 
the other shall think meet to add or diminish 
any thing, they may do it at their pleasures, 
and whatsoever they shall add or take away 
shall be ratified. 

31 And as touching the evils that Deme- 
trius doeth to the Jews, we have written 
unto him, saying. Wherefore hast thou made 
thy yoke heavy upon our friends and con- 
federates the Jews ? 

32 If therefore they complain any more 
against thee, we will do them justice, and 
fight with thee by sea and by land. 

CHAPTER IX. 
Verses i-io, 17, 18. 

FURTHERMORE, when Demetrius 
heard that Nicanor and his host were 
•slain -in battle, he sent Bacchides and Alci- 



L' 



I. fHaccabccs* 133 

mus into the land of Judea the second 
time, and with them the chief strengtii of 
his host : 

Who went forth bv the w^av that leadeth 
to Galgala, and pitched their tents before 
Masaloth, which is in Arbela, and after they 
had won it, they slew much people. 

Also the first month of the hundred fifty 
and second year they encamped before 
Jerusalem : 

From whence thev removed and went to 
Berea, wnth twenty thousand footmen, and 
two thousand horsemen. 

Now Judas had pitched his tents at 
Eleasa, and three thousand chosen men 
with him ; 

Who, seeing the multitude of the other 
army to be so great, were sore afraid ; where- 
upon many conveyed themselves out of the 
host, insomuch as there abode of them no 
more but eight hundred men. 

W^hen Judas, therefore, saw that his host 
slipt away, and that the battle pressed upon 
him, he was sore troubled in mind, and 
much distressed, for that he had no time to 
gather them together. 

Nevertheless, unto them that remained he 



134 I- fHaccabeeg, 

said, Let us arise and go up against our 
enemies, if peradventure we may be able to 
fight with them. 

But they dehorted him, saying, We shall 
never be able : let us now rather save our 
lives, and hereafter we will return with our 
brethren, and fight against them : for w^e are 
but few. 

Then Judas said, God forbid that I should 
do this thing, and flee away from them ; if 
our time be come, let us die manfully for 
our brethren, and let us not stain our honour. 

Whereupon there was a sore battle, in- 
somuch as many were slain on both parts. 

Judas also was killed,^ and the remnant 
fled. 

^ l6l B.C. 



II. iHacca&ees* 



CHAPTER VI. 



Verses 1-3, 18-31. 

NOT long after this the king [x\ntiochus 
Epiphanes] sent an old man of 
Athens to compel the Jews to depart from 
the laws of their fathers, and not to live 
after the laws of God : 

And to pollute also the temple in Jeru- 
salem, and to call it the temple of Jupiter 
Olympius ; and that in Garizim, of Ju- 
piter the Defender of strangers, as they did 
desire that dwelt in the place. 

The coming in of this mischief was sore 
and grievous to the people. 

Eleazar, one of the principal scribes, an 
aged man, and of a well-favored counte- 
nance, was constrained to open his mouth, 
and to eat swine's flesh. 



136 II. iHaccabecs^ 

But he, choosing rather to die gloriously, 
than to Hve stained with such an abomina- 
tion, spit it forth, and came of his own 
accord to the torment, 

As it behoved them to come, that are reso- 
lute to stand out against such things as are 
not lawful for love of life to be tasted. 

But thev that had the charo^e of that 
wicked feast, for the old acquaintance they 
had with the man, taking him aside, be- 
sought him to bring flesh of his own provi- 
sion, such as w^as lawful for him to use, and 
make as if he did eat of the flesh taken 
from the sacrifice commanded by the king; 

That in so doing he might be delivered 
from death, and for the old friendship with 
them find favour. 

But he began to consider discreetly, and 
as became his age, and the excellency of his 
ancient years, and the honour of his gray 
head, whereunto he was come, and his most 
honest education from a child, or, rather, 
the holy law made and given by God : 
therefore he answered accordinHv, and 
willed them straight ways to send him to 
the grave. 

For it becometh not our age, said he, in 



II. ffliaccabecs. 137 

any wise to dissemble, whereby many young 
persons might think that Eleazar, being 
fourscore years old and ten, were now gone 
to a strange religion ; 

And so they, through mine hypocrisy, 
and desire to live a little time and a mo- 
ment longer, should be deceived by me, 
and I get a stain to mine old age, and make 
it abominable. 

For though for the present time I should 
be delivered from the punishment of men : 
yet should I not escape the hand of the 
Almighty, neither alive, nor dead. 

Wherefore now, manfully changing this 
life, I will shew myself such an one as mine 
age requireth, 

And leave a notable example to such as 
be young to die willingly and courageously, 
for the honourable and holv laws. And 
when he had said these words, immediately 
he went to the torment : 

They that led him changing the good will 
they bare him a little before into hatred, be- 
cause the aforesaid speeches proceeded, as 
they thought, from a desperate mind. 

But when he was ready to die with stripes, 
he groaned, and said, It is manifest unto the 



13S II. iHaccafiees, 

Lord, that hath the holy knowledge, that 
whereas I might have been delivered from 
death, I now endure sore pains in body by 
being beaten : but in soul am well content 
to suffer these things, because I fear him. 

And thus this man died, leaving his death 
for an example of a noble courage, and a 
memorial of virtue, not only unto young 
men, but unto all his nation. 



CHAPTER VII. 

IT came to pass also, that seven brethren 
with their mother were taken, and com- 
pelled by the king against the law to taste 
swine's flesh, and were tormented with 
scourges and whips. 

2 But one of them that spake first said 
thus. What wouldest thou ask or learn of us ? 
We are ready to die, rather than to transgress 
the laws of our fathers. 

3 Then the king, being in a rage, com- 
manded pans and caldrons to be made hot : 

4 Which forthwith being heated, he com- 
manded to cut out the tongue of him that 
spake first, and to cut off the utmost parts 



II. iHacrabccs. 139 

of his body, the rest of his brethren and his 
mother lookinsr on. 

5 Xow when he was thus maimed in all 
his members, he commanded him being yet 
alive to be brought to the lire, and to be 
fried in the pan : and as the vapour of the 

■ pan was for a good space dispersed, they 
' exhorted one another with the mother to 
die manfuUv, savins: thus: 

6 The Lord God looketh upon us, and in 
truth hath comfort in us, as Moses in his 
sons:, which witnessed to their faces, de- 
clared. savins:, And he shall be comforted 
in his servants. 

7 So when the first was dead after this 
manner, they brought the second to make 
him a mockino: stock : and when thev had 
pulled oil the skin of his head with the 
hair, they asked him, Wilt thou eat, before 
thou be punished throughout every member 

I of thy body ? 

8 But he answered in his own lano:ua2:e, 
and said, Xo. Wherefore he also received 
the next torment in order, as the former did. 

9 And when he was at the last gasp, he 
said, Thou like a fury takest us out of this 
present life, but the King of the world shall 



I40 II. iWaccabees, 

raise us up, who have died for his laws, 
unto everlasting life. 

ID After him was the third made a mock- 
ing stock : and when he was required, he 
put out his tongue, and that right soon, 
holding forth his hands manfully, 

11 And said courageously. These I had 
from heaven ; and for his laws I despise 
them ; and from him I hope to receive them 
again. 

12 Insomuch that the king, and they that 
were with him, marvelled at the young 
man's courage, for that he nothing regarded 
the pains. 

13 Now when this man was dead also, 
they tormented and mangled the fourth in 
like manner. 

14 So when he was ready to die, he said 
thus, It is good, being put to death by men, 
to look for hope from God to be raised up 
again by him: as for thee, thou shalt have 
no resurrection to life. 

15 Afterward they brought the fifth also, 
and mangled him. 

16 Then looked he unto the king^ and 
said, Thou hast power over men, thou art 
corruptible, thou doest what thou wilt ; yet 



11. j^accabees, 141 

think not that our nation is forsaken of 
God ; 

17 But abide a while, and behold his 
great power, how he will torment thee and 
thv seed. 

18 After him also they brought the sixth, 
who beino: readv to die said, Be not deceived 
without cause : for we suffer these things for 
ourselves, having sinned against our God : 
therefore marvellous things are done unto us, 

19 But think not thou, that takest in 
hand to strive against God, that thou shalt 
escape unpunished. 

20 But the mother was marvellous above 
all, and worthy of honourable memory : for 
when she saw her seven sons slain within 
the space of one day, she bare it with a 
good courage, because of the hope that she 
had in the Lord. 

21 Yea, she exhorted everv^ one of them 
in her own language, filled with courageous 
spirits ; and stirring up her w^omanish 
thoughts with a manly stomach, she said 
unto them, 

22 I cannot tell how ye came into my 
womb : for I neither gave you breath nor 



142 II. JHaccabees. 

life, neither was it I that formed the mem- 
bers of every one of you ; 

23 But doubtless the Creator of the 
world, who formed the generation of man, 
and found out the beginning of all things, 
will also of his own mercy give you breath 
and life again, as ye now regard not your 
own selves for his laws' sake. 

24 Now Antiochus, thinking himself de- 
spised, and suspecting it to be a reproachful 
speech, whilst the youngest was yet alive, 
did not only exhort him by words, but also 
assured him with oaths, that he would make 
him both a rich and a happy man, if he 
would turn from the laws of his fathers ; 
and that also he would take him for his 
friend, and trust him with affairs. 

25 But when the young man would in 
no case hearken unto him, the king called 
his mother, and exhorted her that she 
would counsel the young man to save his 
life. 

26 And when he had exhorted her with 
many words, she promised him that she 
would counsel her son. 

27 But she, bowing herself toward him, 
laughing the cruel tyrant to scorn, spake in 



II. fELBccuitt^, 143 

her country language on this manner : O 
my son, have pity upon me that bare thee 
nine months in my womb, and gave thee 
suck three years, and nourished thee, and 
brought thee up unto this age, and endured 
the troubles of education. 

28 I beseech thee, my son, look upon the 
heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, 
and consider that God made them of things 
that were not ; and so was mankind made 
likewise. 

29 Fear not this tormentor, but, being 
worthy of thy brethren, take thy death, that 
I may receive thee again in mercy with thy 
brethren. 

30 While she was yet speaking these 
words, the young man said. Whom wait ye 
for ? I will not obey the king's command- 
ment : but I will obey the commandment of 
the law that was given unto our fathers by 
Moses. 

31 And thou, that hast been the author of 
all mischief against the Hebrews, shalt not 
escape the hands of God. 

32 For we suffer because of our sins. 

^^ And though the living Lord be angry 
with us a little while for our chastening and 



144 II- M^tcahzt&, 

correction, yet shall he be at one again with 
his servants. 

34 But thou, O godless man, and of all 
other most wicked, be not lifted up without 
a cause, nor puffed up with uncertain hopes, 
lifting up thy hand against the servants of 
God : 

35 For thou hast not yet escaped the 
judgment of Almighty God, who seeth all 
things. 

36 For our brethren, who have now suf- 
fered a short pain, are dead under God's 
covenant of everlasting life : but thou, 
through the judgment of God, shalt receive 
just punishment for thy pride. 

37 But I, as my brethren, offer up my 
body and life for the laws of our fathers, 
beseeching God that he would speedily be 
merciful unto our nation ; and that thou by 
torments and plagues mayest confess, that 
he alone is God ; 

^S And that in me and my brethren the 
wrath of the Almighty, which is justly 
brought upon all our nation, may cease. 

39 Then the king, being in a rage, han- 
dled him worse than all the rest, and took it 
grievously that he was mocked. 



I 



II. iiHaccabe£i3» i4S 

40 So this man died undefiled, and put 
his whole trust in the Lord. 

41 Last of all after the sons the mother 
died. 

CHAPTER XIL 
Verses 36-45. 

NOW when they that were with Gorgias 
had fought long, and were weary, 
Judas called upon the Lord, that he would 
shew himself to be their helper and leader 
of the battle. 

And with that he began in his own 
language, and sung psalms with a loud 
voice, and rushing unawares upon Gor- 
gias' men, he put them to flight. 

So Judas gathered his host, and came 
into the city of OdoUam. And when the 
seventh day came, they purified themselves, 
as the custom was, and kept the sabbath in 
the same place. 

And upon the day following, as the use 
had been, Judas and his company came to 
take up the bodies of them that were slain, 
and to bury them with their kinsmen in their 
fathers' graves. 

10 



146 II. ilHaccabeeg, 

Now under the coats of every one that 
was slain they found things consecrated to 
the idols of the Jamnites, which is forbidden 
the Jews by the law. Then every man saw 
that this was the cause wherefore they were 
slain. 

All men therefore praising the Lord the 
righteous Judge, who had opened the things 
that were hid, 

Betook themselves unto prayer, and be- 
sought him that the sin committed might 
wholly be put out of remembrance. Besides, 
that noble Judas exhorted the people to 
keep themselves from sin, forsomuch as they 
saw before their eyes the things that came 
to pass for the sins of those that were slain. 

And when he had made a gathering 
throughout the company to the sum of two 
thousand drachms of silver, he sent it to Je- 
rusalem to offer a sin offering, doing therein 
very well and honestly, in that he was mind- 
ful of the resurrection : 

For if he had not hoped that they that 
were slain should have risen again, it had 
been superfluous and vain to pray for the 
dead.-^ 

1 Dean Milman says, * ' This is the earliest disti7ict as- 
sertion of the Jewish belief in the resurrection." 



II. iHaccabees* 147 

And also in that he perceived that there 
was great favour laid up for those that died 
godly, it was an holy and good thought. 
Whereupon he made a reconciliation for 
the dead, that they might be delivered 
from sin. 



Cambridge : Press of John Wilson & Son. 



6> 



